<p>Oh boy!! I love cruises! I’m ready to board already … just wish DS was! haha I think I’ve been ready since he took his PSAT/PLAN during his sophomore year and started getting college mailings! :)</p>
<p>School starts back tomorrow for both DS14 & DS21 (oh my!). Everyone’s all snug in their beds. Here’s to a successful last semester of Junior year!</p>
<p>I am SO not ready to start this process again. I am still recuperating from D12’s journey.</p>
<p>AvonHSDad – I remember that journey well! Started out as a three hour cruise, then the weather starting getting rough. Our tiny ship was tossed. If not for the spirit of our fearless crew, the Classof2011 would be lost!</p>
<p>I have extra Dramamine if anyone’s interested…</p>
<p>Well at least now people understand why I call you Captain. Of the entire journey the SS Indecision nearly drove some of us to the brink, and you don’t expect this because you think 4/1 is the goal, the finish line the entire time. Then you realize you have to live through another torturous month where DD/DS waffles and wanes this way and that. All you want to do is scream “pick already, flip a coin, here I’ll do it!!!”. But you wait it out. I’ll admit we instituted a no discussion rule unless he brought it up and have him a 4/15 deadline. He was down to two, no big surprises, no financial difference…just pick already!!! He did, before the earlier deadline, and has never looked back. I’ve tried to stay diplomatic, never knowing how close he was to picking school #2, saying I’m sure he’d have done well and been happy there as well. He heard me say this recently and was quick to correct me “I don’t think I’d have been happy there at all mom.” and proceeded to list academic and social reasons he could only know as a student, not from a high school perspective. I still have to stay diplomatic as there’s a probability his brother will end up at school #2.</p>
<p>Deep breaths, long cleansing deep breaths…</p>
<p>I’m glad you are all here as this will be my first cruise. Not looking forward to DD filling out apps because is one of those kids that does everything right at the last moment possible. Of course I’m the type that plans months/years ahead of time, is always early, and has a breakdown if we’re even 2mins late for something. Going to be a bumpy year.</p>
<p>my3gr8boyz–Sorry for the delay in replying; I just stumbled across this thread again. Here is the info on QAS: [SAT</a> Scores - Student Answer Verification Services](<a href=“The SAT – SAT Suite | College Board”>The SAT – SAT Suite | College Board).</p>
<p>The option is not available for the Dec exam so I am not sure what you paid for. The score report has been available since Dec 27th. It shows the number of each type of question and student’s performance on each section. This report is ‘free’ and available one week after the scores are available. (At least in my limited experience.) Hope this helped.</p>
<p>Newfaith - if I can give one piece of unsolicited advise. For any apps that are RD (not EA/ED due 11/1) I insisted that the button be pushed before I smelled turkey. Now, this will work with some kids and not with others. Some situations you are waiting on an ED answer on 12/15 before you move forward (you may not have to and avoid the expense) but you CAN have everything in the hopper ready to go. My son was agreeable (for the most part) and submitted the last app just before we left for thanksgiving dinner at my SILs. It was a blessing as there were a couple of glitches that needed to be ironed out. He was able to get a live body on the phone and resolve them quickly. Wait until 12/31 and phone lines are jammed and email response is slow. You’d like to think schools are going to work with you, seeing the effort to submit…I don’t know and would hate to test that with so much on the line. </p>
<p>So, don’t feel you can’t look at your students situation, assess and place an earlier deadline to save you all some grief.</p>
<p>I had been pushing my DS14 to consider schools with NMSF-based scholarships given that he likely scored high enough on the PSAT (not quite as high as he had hoped or expected, but likely high enough). Now he has surprised me and is adding such a school to his list, conditioned on achieving NMSF, which would give him two safeties. At first I was quite ecstatic to hear that, thinking of all the money we could save, but then it occurred to me that, now that he will probably have two safeties, he will very likely have a difficult decision to make in April of 2014. Before, with his one safety and a bunch of reaches that were clearly ordered by his preferences, the decision would have been quite easy with any lingering regrets or second-guessing unlikely.</p>
<p>It reminds me that there is always a downside to one’s decisions, no matter how you go about this process.</p>
<p>All this talk of decision making reminds me of
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Myers–Briggs Type Indicator - Wikipedia<em>Type</em>Indicator</p>
<p>as H, S14 and I have all be thinking about which of us is a ‘P’ - loving those open ended possibilities, or an ‘J’ - loving to have the field narrowed down as much and as fast as possible.</p>
<p>I think I’ve confirmed my ‘P’ nature with my 3 ring notebook of college choices, with the page protectors and the </p>
<p>“twenty seven eight-by-ten color glossy pictures with circles and arrows
and a paragraph on the back of each one”</p>
<p>while it looks like my S14 is going to be more of a ‘J’ with his ‘ok, this school wants me, why look at other ones?’</p>
<p>So I guess I believe that a little ride on that sweet boat of indecision can be better than a hasty jump to the nearest shore.</p>
<p>I’ll try and remember while I prod S14 along through the shopping process that I’ll probably have some bliss at the far end, when a decision is needed.</p>
<p>Standing back from the whole thing, I wonder if S is better off going to college at the end of Junior year (not that he has applied to any) and skipping the whole thing, if the whole thrust of Senior year is being preoccupied with college choosing. As much as I like collecting data, is it worth all this emotion? Will he really grow and have fun Senior year or just feel confined? It’s one thing to kick the fledgling out of the nest, but quite another to throw out an egg.</p>
<p>So I’m thinking about summer programs and hoping that Senior year is a good idea in the first place.</p>
<p>Smiles,
PS</p>
<p>Can’t cruise one the SS Indecision if you don’t know where the dock is! Good grief, mine does not talk about, look at, or even think about colleges. That cruise would mean she’d at least considered a few. </p>
<p>I swear, I’m going to be bald by the time that kid packs her bags.</p>
<p>I am a little frustrated with ds also and his lack of interest. I feel like we had momentum going when we looked at 4 schools last spring and summer (2 are in state publics) glad we got it done because he has lost interest and it is soooo complicated. He is very limited if he goes with his two ideas of majors and I wish he would do more research.</p>
<p>We are headed to Chicago for 3 days over spring break and i might have to make the list myself. After that, I am done with the parent led college visits. Not forcing anything else on him. He can apply anywhere and we can visit after acceptance. </p>
<p>As far as ss cruise, at this point we are 75% sure he will end up at an in state public u.
Both offer great programs.</p>
<p>@29happymom26 Sounds like you ‘know when to say when.’ That’s a good thing!
:)</p>
<p>29Happy, at least at my house, D13 became more interested as junior year wore on. Once the seniors were starting to settle on their colleges in the spring, I think she realized it was time. Hoping that happens for S14 this spring. Since D is a senior I’m thinking he may really ‘get it’, but who knows…
Parent Sparkle, on the 2013 thread those binders and particularly spreadsheets are all the rage. They’ve been a blessing for lots of parents and their kids, too. These kids are (mostly) not equipped to track down all the things you’re pulling together. I am confident that binder will be a prized possession next year.
May I suggest some things for it? One, a list of awards. Two, a list of EC activities (include leadership roles). You can include community service here or on a separate sheet.
Finally, once the list is coming together, make a sheet for each school. When the apps are started, put down the due date, the last accepted test date ( generally October for EA or ED and December for RD but not always). Finally, have your kiddo write down the user name and password as well as any security questions and answers for each school.
The reason I really wanted to post was in regard to the Jan. 1 deadline. Having just gone through this, I’m going to second BlueIguana (I seem to do that a lot). Give yourself a couple of days before the actual deadlines. There are parents and kids in panic mode because part of the application didn’t get in before midnight on Jan 1. If your child is going to use the common app, it’s a couple of steps to get the thing submitted (common app, supplement for that particular school if there is one and credit card are all separate). Also. There is no mail on January 1. The was a 2013 mom stressing over finding a post office that was open. She lucked out but get anything that you physically mail sent off before December 31, schools want postmarks by 1/1.</p>
<p>If it makes anyone feel better my wonderful DS came home yesterday and announced he didn’t want to continue with his main EC next year (the massive time sucking one). Now, I should be telling him colleges don’t like to see you quit things. Suck it up and stick it out. Nope I hugged him and said I didn’t blame him one bit. He’s miserable with his coach this year. He’ll step up participation in other clubs (he’s up for an officer post in one), tutor more, and have some breathing room for his APs. The chips will fall where they fall. I can’t ask him to continue with such a time intensive EC if he doesn’t want to. His brother, S2 still home from college, mumbled something about me going soft with the youngest kid and winked at me. Maybe he’s right.</p>
<p>Sounds like a big relief for your kid, blue :)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>BI - I couldn’t have described it better. Thanks. I hope we are not scaring those parents whose first SS Indecision cruise will be in March 2014!!! :eek:</p>
<p>Oh, and for those counting or keeping track, just 363 days until common app submittal day. :D</p>
<p>Scaring them? Ha! No, you’re just scaring those of us from the last cruise…</p>
<p>you’re definitely freaking me out ;-)</p>
<p>29happymom26: I can relate when it comes to a lack of interest. Ours has struggled with that, too.</p>
<p>But, there is a bright side, too. At least my '14 son won’t be applying to 11 schools, like his older brother did. The older son was doing his final apps on Dec. 30 several years ago. The younger son understands the need for rolling admission apps to be sent in early September so he is not swamped with them throughout the fall when he’s juggling SAT/ACT, cross country, APs, a part-time job, etc. Also, if he decides he wants to add a place or two in the fall, he can. He would already have essays done that he could modify if needed. </p>
<p>Every kid is different in his or her approach to college. Fortunately, growing up in a teacher’s home has been a good thing for the younger son. He has heard the stories of visits, applications, deadlines and disappointments. Maybe he has learned from them. The most recent one came from one of his friends who insisted that he was only going to a particular school for engineering, and he would apply ED there. Well, he got deferred … and he does not have a backup plan.</p>
<p>^ I’m right ‘up’ the road from you if I recall momreads. S3 has watched several friends get deferred to ‘that’ ED e’school as well. It’s rough but a cautionary tale that you can’t count on anything and have to have a backup. Every year there’s at least one kid denied that you’re left scratching your head on. As they are largely stats driven it’s enough to make even the most qualified kids consider a backup.</p>
<p>Sorry if my reminiscing is either scaring first time cruisers, or giving repeat passengers PTSD. The Cptn’s countdowns bring back some funny memories. I think he should petition the overlords for an official screen name change, but that’s just me. ;)</p>
<p>mathmomvt - my post was actually in the spirit of ‘feel better, my kid’s driving me nuts too’. BlueDad and I had the conversation last night that S3 probably does feel a huge weight off knowing this is his last season and he’ll enjoy it more knowing he’s in control, much as the Srs do. The coach is very controlling, on top of the hours. He’s just spent.</p>