<p>Morning All
Just into my first cup of coffee…</p>
<p>Most of the schools K2 is considering are not on the radar/Naviance at the hs…which is sooo not helpful
alot of the kids in tis range from K2s hs go to big flagships regionally.
We’re not in the tri-state area so a lot of these schools are unknowns to students/parents here. Funny to me because I grew up in the tri-state. </p>
<p>Soooo The end of the yr grades are going to be a determining factor - and I am concerned that the EC and the SO/new friends and prom were too much of a a distraction</p>
<p>K2 has a schedule for next yr–GC emailed it yesterday. IF K2 does better than expected in math–the math will change. Other than that–the schedule is reflecting more of K2s likes, personality etc.
Chinese is gone. Next year would have been yr 6 and Chinese AP. Still if K2 is hating it…better to be done.
The schedule is a variety of Math classes (semester long), Physics, and multiple history courses (one AP) and English and photography. </p>
<p>K2 wants to pursue marketing/business. At least that’s the thought right now.</p>
<p>No SAT etc this weekend --although the date was open–K2 just finished a 6 day a week/year long EC- banquet is Thursday night. And we knew there was no time for prep. So the June date it is…
Fingers crossed.
Also the ACT is on the calendar in June.</p>
<p>Best of luck for all taking the tests this weekend. Our K1 did the subject tests in May and June of Jr yr…along with APs… Its a lot -however worth it.
Only IF the sub tests will affect placement, along with APs will K2 take them. Otherwise the ACT w W and the SAT should suffice.</p>
<p>Sorry if cutting/pasting that list isn’t going to be helpful to us–Since it wasn’t notated that some schools were NOT in this range…I wish that the thread had not included them in the list. My Bad.</p>
<p>fogfog: “So the end of yr grades are going to be a determining factor - and I am concerned that the EC and the SO/new friends and prom were too much of a distraction.”</p>
<p>I could have written that sentence!</p>
<p>Son is involved in the school musical… for two weeks, he leaves for school at 6:45 am and doesn’t get home until 10. And then does homework, or sort of. Plus a prom on THursday night, and performances Thurs/Fri/Sat. And last night he comes home and decides to bake cupcakes for his own “promposal” (do you all have that where you live? It’s ridiculous). He failed a history quiz yesterday. Just completely blew it. He admitted that he wasn’t prepared. Just biting my nails until this week is over… hopefully he won’t become twitterpated and gets back to normal through the end of the school year and finals!</p>
<p>@LisaK216; We are from Connecticut and are looking at colleges primarily out of the area. We did this with my first 2 kids and found that they generally could be accepted to a better school outside the region, primarily because of the competition to get into colleges closer to home.</p>
<p>We have looked at University of Cincinnati (my alma mater), University of Dayton (D’s current favorite), Xavier and Miami of Ohio in southwest Ohio. Closer to home, we looked at University of Rhode Island, University of Scranton, Susquehanna and St. Josephs in Philly. I posted a visit report for most of these schools. We have a few trips planned for the summer, however, I want to see her final junior grades and SAT result before I spend any money looking at real reach schools.</p>
<p>Lisak216…we were also interested in McDaniel. Stopped by the campus last summer and it’s really pretty and my son liked it. He also enjoyed speaking to an admissions counseler at the CTCL fair. My biggest concern w/ it is the isolation. It’s located in a pretty small town, and although only 40 minutes from Baltimore, there’s not regular shuttle or way for students to get beyond the immediate area. I’d be interested in hearing your impressions if you have any.</p>
<p>Many students from our school go to McDaniel and our neighbor graduated from there, went on, and got her PhD. She’s now a college prof at another local college. The kids who go there like it, but in general, it’s too close to us to have been of interest to MY kids so I can’t add much more. I’ve never even been to the campus… All I can offer is what I’ve written.</p>
<p>@BobbyCT – good plan, the NE LACs are swamped with CT applicants. There are so many great midwest schools, but DD wants East or West coast Trying to think of a way to get her to look! I recall an earlier post in which you mentioned liking Susquehanna quite a bit. I might ask her to check it out</p>
<p>For those interested in McDaniel…we were in the area over break for Goucher’s open house and scheduled a tour at McDaniel. Having spent two days sightseeing in Baltimore, my DD became visibly nervous as we passed cornfields, and then a kind of rundown street leading up to campus. However, the campus was lovely, and we hit it right – DD was the only junior visiting that day, so we got a private info session with an admissions counselor and a tour with only one other person. The tour was led by the men’s swim captain (score!) who was terrific and introduced DD to other team members as we walked around. Two other students in the office and another admissions counselor introduced themselves and chatted with us…tons of attention from really friendly people. It overcame all the negative thoughts DD had on the drive. Really nice outreach, and they waive the app fee for early visitors. When we left, we drove out a different way and found the main street which was small but very cute looking.</p>
<p>Still learning all the details but the visit was overwhelmingly positive. We were pleasantly surprised!</p>
<p>@CT1417…I hear a lot of those same schools being tossed around. My DD’s school is really diverse on every front, so many more kids go to state schools that the more expensive privates. But we live in a small town where everyone is trying for the same schools. DD isn’t likely competing with many, if any, kids from her school…could be a good thing, but then her school doesn’t have a track record with some of our picks.</p>
<p>DH’s alma mater held an admissions workshop for alum children, and all the Boston-area parents freaked out when they realized that their kids are directly competing with classmates for the same schools. Crazy…does your son have any favorites yet?</p>
<p>I am a long time poster. I have not been reading CC much for a long time. I just wanted to write today about a personal experience that might help another family. S2 is now a rising college senior, yay! He attends a very small university. I was mostly nervous about job prospects after he graduates (in fact, I was quite nervous), but I felt that this school would be good for son in many other ways. He chose his U and gave up many other very good options. Not only is this U small, but it was one of his safety schools. My son was not at all invested in “rankings” so he did not care about attending a better ranked school. That was a non-factor for him. His major is communication and everything that I have read about this major on cc and elsewhere told me that this was not a good major for jobs. The thing is, that he really is a perfect candidate for this major given his skills and personality. Well, fast forward 3 years. He has landed a very good paid internship this summer! I won’t go into specifics, but I was impressed that the person who interviewed and hired our son was a CEO of a major company (one most people have heard of), but he is now doing something else. This will be my son’s 2nd paid internship btw. He also had a good one as a 2nd semester sophomore. Just wanted to let parents know that if their kid picks a small no name school, or a major which is not nursing or physical therapy etc., they can experience success! My son has never regretted attending this school and has had a wonderful experience with very very few glitches. I always thought that the career center was a weak point at this U, but somehow it really has not mattered for our son if this is true. One more thing, this school cost us less than our very expensive instate public Us in NJ. It was the second best financial package that he got, and we saw quite a few packages because cost definitely mattered in our family! More importantly, he is so happy there, takes advantage of many opportunities there, and has a very good GPA. Good luck to all of you! I know it is May 1, so many decisions were made last week for many of you!</p>
<p>LisaK - Thanks for your review on McDaniel. My son has visited 3 small schools (roughly 2000 students) and the first one felt small to him. It was spread out but, the buildings seemed small inside or in his words, felt like high school. He would have left right away if it was an option. He just didn’t get the college feel. So, I was worried when we had two more lined up to visit that this size school was out and the weekend was going to be a bust. Fortunately, the next two, did not feel small for him. There were large dedicated buildings, nice open space, quads, good size dining hall, library, fitness center, etc. So, for him, I think “small” has more to do with the feel of the school and not the number of students. The things I learn on these trips! :)</p>
<p>McDaniel would be an 8 hour car ride which probably means a plane ride. So far it looks like it may be worth it.</p>
<p>My daughter surprised me with some good news that she has started to take a strong initiative in trying to find the right colleges for her by researching them herself. I was impressed with her finally taken some responsibility in the search. Last night she tells me she has found the “perfect” school for her. She was elated and I was happy to hear that. Excitedly I asked which college interested her so much. She responded by saying the University of Iowa and followed it up by saying, “where is Iowa?”. Ugggh. I am embarrassed to say that I had to look at the map to remind myself. I will admit that it does look like a great school, it has the things she is looking for, school pride, strong athletics, opportunity to minor in Dance and the majors she likes. In addition, the tuition for OSS is not bad and her grades should be acceptable. It is quite the haul though.</p>
<p>BobbyCT - My Son’s attempts to be different from others in his small school as well as meet the athletic requirement has taken us on a few road trips. Nothing he likes has been closer than 3 hours. But, after a 5 1/2 hour over the river and through the woods trip, the 3 hours seemed like a trip to the grocery store. </p>
<p>Being local seems so much easier for holidays, visits, etc. Would love to hear how people have dealt with the inconvenience of having a child a long car ride or plane ride away.</p>
<p>@happymomto3- My son attended a college in Ohio (we are from Connecticut) and my daughter currently attends a college in South Carolina. The main problem we have is if the college is not located near a main airport. It requires connecting flights and once you arrive, you still may have an additional hour of ground transportation. My daughter puts all her stuff in self storage in the spring and fly’s back. It would be nice to see them more often but once they are that the college they love they don’t really want to come home as often. I would not hesitate to select a college that was distant IF my daughter could make a good argument as to why it is the school for them and it is not so remote from an airport.</p>
<p>Oldest goes to a college 12 hours by car from home. He’s always been independent, so the distance hasn’t been a problem. When he comes home he either flies or catches a ride with others who live this way and chips in for gas. He tells me they love the road trips together, so his preference was by car.</p>
<p>Middle goes 6 hours away by car. That feels close by comparison, but we’ve found it’s sometimes less expensive for him to fly home due to competitive flight costs.</p>
<p>We could be at either place in a day if we had to.</p>
<p>I have no problem letting my kids go to their best fit geographically.</p>
<p>BobbyCT - That’s a good tip - the storage. Hearing these kinds of things make it feel doable. You also bring up a good point that if its a place they love, they won’t have the need to come home for every holiday or break. If he is happy, I will be happy. Let’s hope for a good decision a year from now. Is it OK if I am doubting that my kid can make a good decision?</p>
<p>Creekland - It sounds like the key is making sure its the best fit and because of distance it needs to be without a doubt. I am going to be stressing that point if it comes to be during decision time.</p>
<p>I feel its too early to discuss potential negatives with him until he has a good list going. That’s why I am here. I have to say it to all you wonderful experienced and same boat folks. He may weed things out all on his own at this early stage so, trying to give him less to focus on. He feels a tad stressed with testing, recruiting and grades so, I am chomping a hole in my tongue trying not to make this a daily conversation.</p>
<p>Last night I asked K2 about the “list” and a few likely suspects got rattled off right away…a few others I thought should be added - I asked about</p>
<p>K2s list right now needs a couple of safeties as they are all matches or slight reach-match. No really reachy ones.
If possible I hope to take K2 on a quick trip to see 2-3 of the 4 closer to our region. There is one reach school which could be a great fit school/style/region/EC/opportunities. I am not sure that K2 will do an app for it though unless after time online it feels like its worth a shot.</p>
<p>K2 isn’t worried about ranking at all…is very fit focused which is a good thing.</p>
<p>happymomto3, my son is 12 hours from our home. He flies and the airport is 20 minutes from his school. Just as BobbyCt, our son rented a storage unit for one summer. The second summer he had an internship and lived on his campus. He came home only for a week or two that second summer and he kept his things at school. This summer he is not even renting a storage unit because he has a place to put things until his apartment is ready. He is going to live in an off campus apartment for his senior year and he will begin renting it in June. Flights have always been on time. We never had a problem, although I did think we might have either had one long last minute drive, or he would have missed first day of classes because I thought that his flight could get cancelled due to snow. Thankfully, the weather held out and there were no issues. Our other son went 6 hours from home but that school was much more isolated by comparison and getting home was much more difficult!</p>
Trying to think of a way to get her to look! I recall an earlier post in which you mentioned liking Susquehanna quite a bit. I might ask her to check it out</p>