<p>txvelle: It can be that simple. And the end of the day each student only gets to go to one school. Some kids preferences do migrate somewhat. A strategy might be to apply to a few others in the event he changes his mind mid-senior year. You can always turn down schools that accept you.</p>
<p>Son had first meeting with assigned cc last weekā¦lasted a about 40 minutesā¦son happy, felt meeting went well. Got fup email from counselor listing 30! Schools to consider (in addition to the 8 DS had brought to the table)ā¦DS assigned to āresearchā the schools and hone list in prep for visiting later in the yearā¦all the schools tied in with the naviance data set.
Lots of food for thoughtā¦DS also felt okay about Saturdays SATā¦hope thereās lots of āloveā come valentines day from the college board!</p>
<p>Just found out that the mom of one of Sās friends has ovarian cancer. Poor thing. Iām thinking Iāll ask S if he and his friend have any common schools they need to visit and weāll do a short trip (something nearby - -not a multi-day trip). I told S (hoping heāll tell his friend) about all the people I know who had cancer and now theyāre fine. So much stress for the poor kid in this very stressful year.</p>
<p>thanks all - I guess Iāll just go with the Happy boy right nowā¦ and concentrate on S14(2) - weāre going to visit Austin College and Trinity University in San Antonio as well as Hendrix College. he does not want to go far from home but wants to go to small school. Texas is not bless with an abundance of good small schools (we do everything bigger here?)
Soā¦ Rhodes is good for the 1 for now - off to find a fit for the 2ndā¦maybe it will be easy too!</p>
<p>Page 3? We are slacking off, '14 Parents! </p>
<p>The mailbox has been full lately, thanks to the PSAT mailing list.</p>
<p>I have taken to posting on the class of 2015ās thread as they are very active. I have been wondering why no one has been posting here. Thanks for bumping us MImama.</p>
<p>Perhaps all of the 2014 parents are busy researching their Feb/March/April break college tours! I know that I should be.</p>
<p>Just blew off taking S14 to California to look at a few schools in Feb. He got a better offer (Mexico with friend and his family)! Heās doing this east coast tour with his school in April, seeing NO schools that he will go to. Sigh.</p>
<p>seattleābut I am sure he will return with detailed reports of these east coast schools he will not attend!</p>
<p>The mailbox is hilarious. Iām surprise the poor thing still stands. D13 seems to have fallen off the lists (but not the email lists- daily there are abundant message saying, āDear D, our deadline has passed but just for you, we are holding an application openā¦ā). However S14 is getting daily doses of paper love. He asked if anyone has ever heard of these schools, and S said, āSure!ā.S was stunned, then she laughed and said when she got the same ones last year.
Our meeting with the GC is set for the 11th. Second quarter grades werenāt as high as first but he had a rough two months- a seizure followed by a concussion and then a new medication that made him unable to concentrateā¦given that, Iām ok with the results. I hope he will enter this quarter with a new determination, and maybe an attitude too! Spring sports loom and generally he does best in school when he is in-season.
Class of 2015, Iām so sorry about your sonās friendās mother. There is a thread in Parent Cafe by a woman who is in her last days with cancer. Itās been a beautiful thread to follow; her words are eloquent and brave and full of grace and dignity. Such a tragedy, though, and so awful to be facing cancer with young children still at home. I will be thinking of this lady.</p>
<p>Lol about your S saying heād heard of them because they sent him the same junk last year ;-)</p>
<p>Thereās still a trickle coming in for Sā11. I guess theyāre hoping he wants to transfer?</p>
<p>If there are schools you kid is considering applying to, do open the mails that they send next fall ā occasionally theyāll be offering something useful like waiving the application fee!</p>
<p>DSā14 starting to get mail inviting him to Honors College weekends at various schools. They all say to āreserve your date right away because the spots fill up.ā I am sure they would be interesting weekends, but not sure we want to spend the money on the airfare - each ticket is about 6 application fees!</p>
<p>Our mailbox, too, is filled on a daily basis with college stuff. Son '14 does not even look at it. He immediately deletes the e-mails he receives, too. Got a feeling heās sort of in denial mode. On the one hand, he wants to go to school away from home and meet new people. On the other hand ā¦ well, you get the idea. He will go on visits if we find a school for him. He does little or no research, because he still has plenty of time. We have a full summer planned ā wisdom teeth to be pulled, possibly of Boys State, cross country camps, visiting his grandparents in SC, etc. So he better fill in the time with some decision making and SAT prep.</p>
<p>89wahoo ā thanks ā yes, Iāve read sunrise eastās thread ā so sad.</p>
<p>CT1417 ā I know Iāve been absent from this thread because it took me all day to figure out how to upload Sā14ās photo to the ACT website! I knew how to do it for the SAT; why was this so hard? Finally did it.</p>
<p>S has not been inundated with mail. Maybe his PSAT scores were too low? Or maybe thereās a box saying āI donāt want to get mailā. I donāt really care. Itās fun but doesnāt really mean anything in the long run. </p>
<p>My brother (who now lives in VA) mentioned George Mason University. Might be a match/safety for S. Any Virginia folk know anything about it?</p>
<p>My DS is also in a ādonāt careā mode. Regular mail comes in and I lay it on his desk in his bedroom. He promptly throws it in the floor where a pile has started to form ā¦ again! I have gone in and organized a couple of times, making hanging folders by state (the latest time, the first time was alphabetical). I guess itās time to do it again, the pile is getting big. He would probably be ok with just throwing it in the trash, but I wonāt let him! haha There might be a hidden gem in there! As far as e-mails, he never see them. He listed my main e-mail address on his PSAT/PLAN/ACT, so it all comes directly to me. Wish I would have thought of alternate e-mail before he took these tests!! </p>
<p>When it comes to college visits, he will not suggest colleges he wants to see. If I suggest heāll usually agree. Thereās a few that weāve both been undecided about because of distance. Presidentās weekend seems to be a popular weekend for colleges to have open house. There is one college about 7 hours away on Saturday, then another thatās two hours back toward home on Monday with a 5 hour return trip Monday night. Iād like for him to see the first school. The second school would be because it is on the way home, but does have his major so wouldnāt be a total waste of time.</p>
<p>89wahoo - I visited the thread you mentioned. That is so sad! Iāll have to go back and read some of the earlier posts. It sounds like she was a very eloquent writer.</p>
<p>Good morning good people</p>
<p>I hope everyone is enjoying the last bit of January. Is it just me, or did it fly by? Junior year is passing by at break neck speedā¦ 
No time to squeeze it all in.</p>
<p>DD14 decided not to take the class at Yaleā¦ and informed me by text message on the day that the papers should have been signed by the ISSP coordinator. She had already āshoppedā a few classes the week before, picked her class, had the prof sign the form, I bought the books(5 total) and she even did her first assignment. I was totally p****eed off to say that least. Lots of time & money had been put into this. I had to cancel work shifts in order to get her to the classes as I had no one else to do it. ANd guess what? I donāt get paid for cancelled shifts. I also spent over $200 on the books. I was seething(sp?) mad! I was slamming doors, screaming madā¦ </p>
<p>I guess the issue for me was that instead of sitting down and talking to me about it over the MLK holiday, she waited to spring it on me via text from school on that Tuesday. She says she felt that she was doing too much and that she changed her mind. Fine time to tell me! After I stood in line for 45 minutes @ Yale bookstore(while she went to Froyo with friends)/spending all that $$ on books. I tried to explain to her that she needs to stack the deck in her favor whenever possible and that taking a class at Yale/doing well, could possibly do just that. Seeing that her SAT scores are on the iffy side. The class was an easy one, but the professor told her that it would be difficult/very challenging. The ISSP director also told her that she was doing too much. So I think she let these folks get into her head and they spooked her. She cavalierly said that she can take a class in the fall. But she doesnāt realize how busy she will be with college apps. And the grade probably wonāt be ready in time to submit when her appās go in on January 1,2014. She had a bird in the hand and let it fly awayā¦</p>
<p>Class of 2015āno, his PSAT scores were not too low. I have no idea what sort of screening the schools use when requesting mailing addresses from CB, but my son has received mail from a huge range of schoolsāone that I know he would never be accepted to and ones that we wouldnāt even contemplate having him apply to. There is a box, or something, where the test taker indicates he if wishes to receive mail.</p>
<p>I have not noticed my son receiving mail due to his SAT scores, so I do not know if there is a box on that test or only on the PSAT. He took the Oct & Dec SATs Jr year as well as the Jr PSAT and others here on CC confirmed that the timing of the onslaught of mail means that the PSAT was the trigger.</p>
<p>Re: George MasonāI bet Wahoo will come back on and give you info about GM.</p>
<p>Re: reading the mail. I do not blame the students as I canāt bear to read it. I donāt even want to bother taking it out of the envelopes!</p>
<p>Visits: need to get going on planning for April break as we are not allowed to leave town during Feb break due to HS sports. Good luck to those traveling that weekend.</p>
<p>Not sure if I will have the energy/stamina for the college app season. I know Iām all in 1000% in this whole process and then she talks to some idiot/a.hole and they talk her out of her college choices then decides to go in a different direction after the fact. Then what?</p>
<p>DS also has been getting a lot of e-mails and mails from colleges. Some of you mentioned your DCs are in the ādonāt careā mode with them. My DS is the opposite. He is so enthusiastic about getting them. He would proclaim with the mails in hand: ĀLook! U of XYZ really wants me!Ā I laugh inside and tell him (while trying not to burst his bubbles too much) that these are mass mailings. He says Ābut they wrote the letters to meĀ
.my name is on there Ā
.Ā I had to once again impress upon him that itĀs the power of marketing.<br>
There had been a few invitations that were more personable though. One admission officer personally called DS the night before the college fair and invited him to visit the adm officer at the booth. Another LAC invited DS to a party hosted by their alum at a country club (we didnĀt go due to conflict). I guess we can still call these marketing? :)</p>
<p>I have a former student who is currently a senior at George Mason. He really likes it. Has lived on campus all four years. Got into the honors program. Also got some scholarship money. GMU is one of the fastest growing universities in VA. Solid academics. Lots of school spirit, particularly during basketball season.</p>
<p>I wish I had told my S to answer the PSAT mail question with an emphatic āNo!ā Now we get gobs of college mail and he refuses to look at any of it. It seems that over time the process has evolved into one where Dad (me) does the initial screening of all the college information, whether snail mail, email, or college websites like this one, and His Majesty just looks at the highly recommended choices that follow from that. I suppose I shouldnāt complain in that it gives me a great deal of control over the process, and it allows us to avoid possibly unpleasant financial discussions as it is understood that I will weed out all those which I donāt believe make sense financially before he ever hears of them.</p>