<p>Nevermind . . . I see the edit button now. Does that disappear after a certain amount of time?</p>
<p>Yes, send me, it disappears after about 10 minutes.</p>
<p>Ds2 back in school today. We went to our BTS lunch yesterday, and he set some goals of which I highly approve, academically and socially. I need to right these down so I can keep track, but he generally makes all his goals because, if he wants something, he can accomplish it!</p>
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<p>I just hope the suspense of waiting till September next year to find out, doesnāt kill me. lol</p>
<p>Greetings! Happy New Year to all!
Havenāt visited this site in a whileā¦avoidance, denial, call it what you wantā¦I am not looking forward to all this stress next yearā¦
We spent fabulous two weeks in Europe over Christmas due to the family wedding. The two weeks kids are paying for now with extremely hard work (all those assignments that were supposed to be done over the winter break 
).
PSAT results are back, as good as ever (who remembers how S was freaking out due to poor performance on practice test?), he is also applying to two very selective summer programs. While admission chances are very slim, all this essay writing and letters of recommendations collecting will be a good dry run before the college application process
begins for our family.
Will have to spend some time reading back your posts to catch upā¦</p>
<p>Just read the Joe College blog entry and here is what I have found out;
"For instance, one academic powerhouse, the highly respected University of Chicago, has approximately 1,400 spaces available for incoming freshmen. This year, they accepted roughly 1,450 Early Action applicants! "
Is it a typo? Or are they assuming that at least half will not matriculate? I am so naiveā¦</p>
<p>Morning all! Welcome back :)</p>
<p>Perazziman: congrats on the scores!</p>
<p>Kelowna: Iāve been told that I need to nag this weekend about summer program apps. I donāt like to nag; why canāt they just get done? Apparently Iām a good motivator ;)</p>
<p>D2 and I had a little chat about college apps and I let her know that I expect all of hers to be in before Thanksgiving this year; the stories about students affecting family holiday plans were cautionary tales to me. I recommended that she take a look at essay prompts early so she can get some ready over the summer; well lo & behold she came home from school & said the English teacher informed them theyāll be working on an essay they can use for the Common App sometime this 2nd semester. Yay!</p>
<p>I know Iād mentioned ā ā ā ā ā ā ā ā ā ā before but I logged on this week & found out they also had a college road trip planner. Thought it was an interesting tool.</p>
<p>Dā13s Christmas break is almost over, she goes back on Tuesday. This break has been a little different than most, typically there is some friend time but the majority of her time is spent just lounging or on a trip. This break has been spent mostly with friends, last night was the first night in over a week that I did not have a house full of kids over, Dā13 has stayed up until at least 1am for over a week. Which is far from typical but I allowed it because with the start of school on Tuesday her social life comes to an abrupt end, she added an extra DE class and an Extra FLVS AP class, which brings her to a total of 8 classes (2 AP and 3 DE). I hope she has a a great semester! For now she has begun to prep for her ACT on Feb 11!</p>
<p>As for summer I think that this maybe the first summer in 4yrs that D stays home and just vegs, with the exception of the 2-3 DE classes she is planning, typically she attends several summer programs and I donāt think she will this summer! Lots of friend time and lots of Beach time! The highlight will be her sweet 16 in August, with her senior year to follow :)</p>
<p>Kelown - I noticed the same thing about U of Chicago and several other schools. It does seem like EA/ED acceptance puts those applying RD at a disadvantage. But applying ED has a financial risk if the FA package you are hoping for does not come through. I also notice that U of Chicago is an EA school and not an ED school, meaning it is not binding. In fact, itās not even an SCEA school where you agree to only apply to a single school EA. That means, if I am figuring this correctly, that students can apply to as many EA schools, rolling admissions schools and many state schools that have very early regular admission rounds without any consequences. U of Chicago must be hedging their bet against the kids that applied there EA and will be applying to HYPS RD and seeing how it goes. They must know the math on this. It does make RD at U of Chicago and other schools like it seem harder. I guess these are the calculations we must help our kids make when it comes time to apply. Is this how others are seeing this?</p>
<p>RobD - we are in the same boat on summer apps. Sā13 has a draft completed, but needs to work on it and seems to want to let other things get in the way. He does have finals coming up and is taking the SAT again soon, so he does have things he is working on, but I am the impatient one around here. DW has a softer touch and hopefully that will move him along on finishing the essay. I also look at it as a good opportunity to practice essay prep and to learn to anticiapte that it will take time and to plan ahead. Hopefully thatās the lesson that will be learned. Getting into the summer program would be nice, but maybe not even the most important thing. </p>
<p>Also, very good news today. PSAT scores came back and he did great. Well above NMSF from previous years.</p>
<p>Good news, Dadotwoboys on the PSAT scores. </p>
<p>I anticipate a very exciting year for everybody here!</p>
<p>Shhhhhh. Ds is working on a practice SAT. Iām trying to be quiet like the testing room, though the neighborās new puppy isnāt cooperating. Ds likes to spend Saturdays watching cooking shows. Iām glad heās giving up Ming Tsai for an hour.</p>
<p>With luck, heāll be working on summer apps later. I wonāt hold my breath with playoffs starting in a few hours. Plus, dh will snare him to help put Christmas decorations in the attic.</p>
<p>Congrats on the good score, dad.</p>
<p>Oh, and dsās team won its first game last night. Yea!</p>
<p>DD13 is still waiting on her PSAT scores. Anyone else left in this boat with us?</p>
<p>DD already has good SAT scores in the bank so the wait is a bit easier than otherwise.</p>
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<p>I told S to complete the essays and apply to some summer programs over the winter holidays, but he does not want to go. It is the proverbial, āyou can take the horse to the well, but you canāt make it drinkā.</p>
<p>Hi all,</p>
<p>Congrats on the PSAT scores that are coming in. This is a very bright group of kids. Best of luck to all of them in the upcoming year.</p>
<p>Could anyone please direct me to a couple of good websites for finding summer programs for kids? When I was growing up, I pretty much just held standard jobs (like at a grocery store), babysat and did some volunteer work. This idea of summer programs is all new to me. Iād hate to shortchange my kid due to my lack of knowledge.</p>
<p>Speaking of the kid, I am happy to announce that D is Homecoming Princess for the Junior class! She is thrilled and I am VERY happy for her. I am especially happy for her because she didnāt win because she is the most popular (she isnāt by any stretch) or the most beautiful. She is just a kid who is kind to everyone and has a great heart. 
So we are getting ready to head out to the Homecoming basketball game so she can get āsashedā and then a group of her friends are coming over tonight for pizza and to do each othersā hair and makeup. I am SO not a girly-girl mom so Iāll just provide the pizza and take the pictures! ;-)</p>
<p>Thanks in advance for any summer program guidance you have to pass on. Itās greatly appreciated!</p>
<p>@perazziman . . . has your S been to summer programs before? My S really had the time of his life last summer . . . he would be bummed if he DIDNāT get to go. With that said, heās also slacking on the apps. (btw, my H is a "perazzi"man too. )</p>
<p>@vandygrad . . . congrats to your homecoming princess! What are your Dās interests? Most of my links are science/math/engineering. Some deadlines are coming up quickly and require recommendations, etc, so you might need to get the ball rolling asap. Some programs do have later deadlines though.</p>
<p>Congrats to good scores, Homecoming Princesses and soccer game wins!</p>
<p>Bappy1: We have not gotten our PSAT scores back! Supposedly the english teachers are giving them back, but ours is a complete flake so I am not holding my breath. SAT score was not great so I am not expecting miracles from the PSAT.</p>
<p>Congrats on the Homecoming Princess, Vandygrad!</p>
<p>Regarding summer programs: it depends on the interests that your student has. Also how far youāre willing to have them travel & how much youāre willing to spend. And test scores (some programs require test scores over a certain threshold for various programs.) My D is only interested in writing programs & weāre willing to have her travel farther this year as sheās a little older. Iām also resigned to the fact that most are about $1000/week. </p>
<p>And Iāll agree with what sendemsoaring says about summer programs: when your child gets to spend time with a group of peers that have the same interests as they do (and they donāt usually get to do that in school) it can be a wonderful experience. D2 keeps in touch with a group of students from last years writing program on a daily basis.</p>
<p>Just got back from S2ās first big audition of the year. He made 2nd chair in the Texas All State choir (up one chair from last year). He was pleased, especially since he now gets an all expenses paid trip to San Antonio and 3 days out of school!</p>
<p>Speaking of PSAT scores, on the way home from the audition (2 hr drive) S2 pipes up, āOh, btw I got those PSAT scores yesterday.ā Apparently, that was the one day that I forgot to ask āDid you get your scores?ā after school. His scores significantly improved from last year when he forgot to bring a calculator. If his SAT scores turn out as well, he should be fine for any of the schools heās looking at. Heāll actually be well above the average for most of his choices, so I hope heāll get good merit aid.</p>
<p>Hope everyone had a good holiday! We stayed very busy during break, which seemed surprisingly short, and are finally taking a breather(for one second). DD13 ended up with good grades, and is almost at a 3.5. She started back on Thursday. The big news over break was that she took her driverās permit test, and now has been driving! Big because she has ADD, and finally felt like she was ready. We are very proud of her:)</p>
<p>I am very stressed already! Registration is coming up, and both of my kids will be in high school next year! DD is taking the ACT on 2/11, and we are planning college visits. Trying to decide how many schools to visit(especially reach), and how to get them all in before the end of the year. </p>
<p>Do you like to visit during visit days or on your own? </p>
<p>Many congratulations to everyone, I see lots of scores are in. Vandygrad~congrats to your DD, how special and exciting!</p>
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<p>HaHa, Yes, Iāve been one since ~ 1997. Judging from your posts, I am guessing H must be an ATA Perazzi man lol. Iām mostly sporting perazzi man. However, I have friends who attend the Grand American. :-)</p>
<p>To answer your question, actually, this would have been his first summer program. He has been getting invites ever since TIPs in 7th grade, but he has never gone. This year, we had an invitation from Telluride (Cornell). I also read about MIT MITES on cc. So, I suggested he apply. However, he is just not interested. </p>
<p>RobD: Thanks.</p>
<p>way to go dadotwoboys, congratulations to your S for doing well on the National Merit Exam.</p>