<p>Speaking of super reaches, after the WPI visit we arrived in Boston in midafternoon and I offered DS a drive-by of Harvard and/or MIT (DH did grad school at the latter in the 80s). He declined, partly because he knows they’re super reaches (H, especially, has never been on our radar), and partly because he’s about as far from being a status hound as it is possible to get. Which I think is a useful quality to have as we college-hunt.:)</p>
<p>GO2Mom
Our K1 is a soph at Yale, so if you have ?s, PM me. The housing system is great. MOST freshmen live together on Old Campus, only 2 of the res colleges have room for frosh.</p>
<p>Also enjoying reading everyones reviews.
I am going to write some for the profiles here. Do the same, makes it easier to find</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>cheers</p>
<p>mathmomvt – About Queen’s, I think it was a combination of traditional campus atmosphere, a <em>very</em> engaging tour guide who knew exactly the right buttons to push with 17-year-old boys, nice student facilities (athletic, etc.), strong academic support (unlike, say, McGill), and a general very friendly vibe. Also the Lego robotics kits in evidence in the EE lab we visited with our prof friend.
I’m afraid that’s all I can remember off the top – although DH and I know a bunch of Queen’s alums, all of whom really enjoyed their time there.</p>
<p>Another tidbit about Northeastern before I sign off and get cracking on Easter dinner…In the Eng’g info session they explained how freshmen were split up into mini-cohorts of 30 or so and moved through the common first year curriculum as a group. They said lectures for things like Calc and Physics topped out at 60-90 (i.e. 2-3 mini-cohorts). The largest lecture is likely to be in the required humanities elective 1st semester; there apparently are several wildly popular courses where the lectures might be 300+. </p>
<p>Also the funniest moment for me came at WPI on the campus tour. I asked about intro lecture sizes and the student guide said the biggest was ~150, but, as is standard at all the univs we toured, there would be weekly recitations led by grad students. Only instead of “recitation” the guide said “resuscitation”. Freudian slip, or…?</p>
<p>Interesting about the mini-cohorts at NEU, dowager – do you know how that interacts with kids who come in with AP credit for some of the engineering core courses? My DS is thinking he would probably re-take physics even if he gets a high enough score on the AP exam to get out of it, but I think he might want to place out of the beginning calculus classes if his AP scores support that.</p>
<p>Excellent question mathmom, and I honestly am not sure. The presenter did talk about AP and IB credits, so if I had to hazard a guess I would say that they group the cohorts depending on which Calc course the student starts with initially, for example. That said, my DS could very well come in with Calc (AP) and Chem (IB) credits, so I’m not sure how that would work with students who have Chem credits but not Physics, or vice versa. Be worth an email asking for clarification…:)</p>
<p>I’m enjoying reading these college reports! It’s interesting seeing the diversity on the board.</p>
<p>Eyemamom - enjoy Virginia Tech (whether it stays on the list or not). It’s a gorgeous campus - probably the prettiest I’ve seen.</p>
<p>Up with a nagging cough last night, I spent way too much time reading the HYP acceptance threads. It was striking to me the randomness of the acceptances. Even more puzzling were the lists that accepted students posted about their results from the other schools they applied. One Ivy may have accepted them but all others rejected them or they may have been accepted by an Ivy and denied at schools in a slightly less selective level. Then there are the sad stories of kids with good stats that got shut out of all of their schools.</p>
<pre><code> It really struck me that, at least at these schools, the admissions are trying to “sculpt” a class and are taking the more unique students i.e. the only competitive kite flier from the United Kingdom that applied. I am not convinced that putting together a class with the quirkiest individuals would be the best class or the class that produces the most Noble Prize winners or for that matter, the people that make the most significant positive impact on society. I have read the Cal Newport book about being a high school superstar by finding an unusual passion and concentrating only on that because that is what colleges are looking for. From what I read last night, it seems it is true. However, the book didn’t convince me to to take my all-around kid and make him give up all of his interests as a 14 year old to focus on one and spend all of his 4 yrs on developing one “passion”. In my opinion, high school should be for trying everything and anything you want to. You have to narrow your focus soon enough in life, whatever happened to the time for exploring in this life? How do you know what you want to do until you try it? How much can you have tried by the age of 13?
So maybe the hyper-selective schools don't have it right after all , and that is a good reason not to mold yourself to the school. Be who you want to be, don't put so much stock into these schools because you can't really guess what they want and maybe what they want isn't creating the optimal class for you.
</code></pre>
<p>89wahoo: I have a teacher friend who attended IUP. Really liked it. Nice school. And yes, you do get a break on the cost if you are from VA. As for JMU, this is a suggestion based on what I’ve heard from others in the education world. Apply early action for the best chance of acceptance. Had a student several years ago whose SAT was not great (under 1000), but she accepted early and got in. (Her hook may have been competing in pageants.) This young lady will graduate in a month with a degree in communications. A couple of other students I had were under the 1100 mark on the SAT, and they, too, earned acceptance. So you may think about the early action route.</p>
<p>MrsPepper, yeah, selection seems arbitrary, and you’re right. Schools that have a deep enough applicant pool can sculpt a class to include lots of “interesting” people. My youngest d is a very interesting person, but until loud burping becomes a real competitive endeavor instead of just a way to gross out dad or break the prissy cheerleader stereotype, I don’t think her “skill” is going to put her on Harvard’s radar. </p>
<p>I agree, high school should be a time when kids get to try, but sometimes kids know what they like. I had gymnasts. They were practicing 20 hours a week by age 11 for one and 13 for the other. There wasn’t time for anything else. I was so glad when they stopped, but until they were ready to let it go, there just wasn’t a bribe big enough get them out of the gym. I image the ivies see so many kids like that they really can choose the specialists. Yeah, it keeps out kids with more average interests, but my dabblers (they’ve been all over the place since leaving the gym) aren’t interested in those schools either. So I guess the ambivalence is mutual!</p>
<p>MrsPepper - I’m with you. I want kids to be allowed to be kids and if who they are (EC wise) isn’t right for any particular school, that school is not the right place for them either. There are literally OODLES of great schools out there where kids can end up going anywhere and doing anything when they graduate (and during their undergrad). I feel for those who get hung up on one or two schools. I’m not even “happy” with my youngest being so dead set on one or two schools even when he is likely to get admitted to them since they aren’t as selective. It’s much easier when kids can see themselves at many different places (all likely similar due to fit, but not just ONE).</p>
<p>And personally, I’m glad none of mine wanted uber competitive - even my high stats kid. That said, I’ll root for those of you who do want to be in that hunt. ;)</p>
<p>Momreads- thank you. That’s nice to hear. D had a lot of friends deferred from JMU this year who got in under RD. I’ve been back and forth on whether to risk S14 being flat-out rejected without a chance to show his senior MY grades, or to show his eagerness through EA. Guess EA it is, with perhaps less than spectacular chance of acceptance then, but interest all the same. 
It was good to hear about IUP too,
Off to sign him up for a George Mason Univ tour. I hope he likes it!</p>
<p>Hi All</p>
<p>I agree with the sentiment that when a kid gets hung up on one school, it can set them up for a too short of a process to consider who they are and the journey , or possibly set them up for disappointment.</p>
<p>FIT is everything. With K1 --the list was long and wide…an think in the end there were like 8 potential apps…K1 did 3, the U now attending, the state flagship (fin safety) and the private (academic safety which did come with a scholarship). </p>
<p>With K2 the list is totally different–a lot of “academic gems” as the GC calls them…
great schools that will likely be a nice FIT.</p>
<p>K2 has a “first choice” right now though its not necessarily the top school on the list with some rankings–
and k2 has a list of about 5-7 that will stay on the list…</p>
<p>There may be some “official visits” which will help with narrowing it down.
We will also send K2 to any admitted day events as well.
SEVERAL schools have ED though not the # 1 right now…and so I think there are some EA apps in the future.</p>
<p>It was an expensive road trip, 2 plane tickets, lots of gas (almost 1800 miles) and hotels, tolls, food… and till I think it helps “frame” the process.</p>
<p>Hope everyone has had good spring break/college search trips.</p>
<p>Fog fog, I’m with you. I was determined to get the safety done first. At least with mine, they like most schools. Letting the safety be an early find, opening their eyes initially to the excitement of college etc really worked. I was afraid they would be like many with a reach “dream” school no safety could match. The safety to me is the most critical one.</p>
<p>I enjoyed reading all the campus tour reports. Glad everybody is back safe.</p>
<p>Have any of your children taken the Literature subject test? My son completed a practice test last night from the Princeton Review book. He commented that the PR practice test was more difficult than the on-line practice questions provided by College Board. He was pleasantly surprised to score 750 but was still concerned b/c that was the score he achieved after getting nine questions wrong. (He completely missed on one poetry reading.) </p>
<p>Does anyone know if this is typical of scoring for the subject tests? He was concerned b/c he is not used to that type of curve on the SAT I, and the CB book only includes one ‘real’ practice test.</p>
<p>CT1417 my understanding is that scoring is tough… the kids are picking the thing they are best at so they tend to do very well. I’ve heard foreign languages are terrible…Math 2 is easier for kids in higher levels of math because Math I is stuff they’ve forgotten…Definitely try to do them in May or June though, if the kids are finishing a class with an SAT2 this year. D was trying to bring up her regular SAT, assuming that the schools would not much care about subject tests if her regular SAT was terrible, so ended up taking them in the fall. Let’s just say the spring would have been better for US History, anyway…
I just got an email from a mom at D’s school. Kid is an amazing student from what I’ve heard. WL at both top state schools. I’m quite stunned as she had a solid record and both girl scouts and girls’ state too. She has a great option, one I think she will love, but you just never know…this has confirmed, yet again, the importance of loving thy safety…I’m becoming a broken record on safety schools…</p>
<p>But one thing I would love to know, if anyone does have an answer. If you are taking 3-hour AP exams, why in the heck can’t those count in lieu of subject tests (assuming you took AP tests after junior year and have the scores to use). I really don’t get that. I’ve asked various guidance department people and nobody knows. Seems to be logical to me- and for people who have to pay for AP tests, why double the financial burden by making Jr. take the AP exam for college credit (or because like here, its required in order to get the additional weight for the AP class no matter how you actually do on it), and then pay College Board again for a subject test which only reflects what you presumably learned? I get the subject tests if AP classes are not offered, or if you don’t take AP exams for whatever reason…</p>
<p>wahoo–good question on that second post. CB makes money with each test taken and score reported but there is no reason for the colleges to have to conform. Of course, not all students have access to AP courses but some schools that accept ACT scores seem to accept them in lieu of subject tests. That one doesn’t make sense to me but I haven’t ever actually looked at the ACT.</p>
<p>My question about the scoring was that my son thought that nine incorrect answers should have been far lower than 750. So I was wondering if the PR practice tests are just completely out of line? I don’t know what the SAT II score report looks like so was curious if others had encountered a high score with that many incorrect responses.</p>
<p>^^ I agree re the subject tests.
K1 took 11 AP exams, 3 subject exams, 1 SAT w writing and 2 ACT w writing…
that was a LOT of fees.</p>
<p>Seems if the kids have the SAT/ACT w writing PLUS APs in Eng Lit etc , Calc, Chem, etc that the subject tests are really obsolete.</p>