<p>TinnyT - Welcome! Just wanted to add that your parents are probably not disinterested, they probably just don’t have a good feel for what they can do to help! I was NOT a first generation, but my parents kind of fell into their college educations - just post WWII, vet benefits, etc. Their parents didn’t even finish grammar school, so ANYTHING or ANYPLACE they went was positively amazing. When my turn came around, they had no experience with guidance counselors (mine was TERRIBLE, too) or college fairs or college visits. I kind of found my own way. We did do college visits - about five across the midwest and east. The school I eventually chose, which was just right for me, I discovered because my FEET HURT! I was at a huge college fair in dress shoes and one college was offering a sit-down presentation with popcorn and lemonade. That was the ONLY reason I went to their presentation and I liked what I saw. When I went and visited the school, I loved the people I met there.<br>
So be open to any college information you can get - who knows how that “right” place will present itself to you?</p>
<p>The ACT glitch isn’t working here either … she took it as standby - and it’s still listed as standby and not tested. Theoretically, I can’t see how standby would take any longer to process than anyone elses. A scantron is a scantron is a scantron. </p>
<p>DD14s shadowing is going well … I thought that her tagging along w/ McDreamy this summer would either leave medicine on the table or completely take it off. She had to suit up this week as they were seeing diabetic patients in the wound clinic. She didn’t pass out … she didn’t even flintch actually. (And just her description of what was going on made ME weak in the knees.) </p>
<p>We’re pretty much done w/ the college tours too … though we’ll make the 2nd trip to Vandy for the PreVu day in July. She decided that she doesn’t want to take a look at any more schools … she’ll apply ED to Vandy Nov. 1 as well as our state flagship’s rolling admissions. If she doesn’t get in ED to Vandy, she’ll just start throwing all the apps against the wall and see what sticks. </p>
<p>Happy summer everyone!</p>
<p>Welcome TinnyT ! I know it can be a bit overwhelming to be captain steering your own ship but please know that there are many here that are willing to help if you need it so don’t feel like you have no support. First generation does not always have to suck. Use it to your advantage when applying to colleges – it can be a hook. Tell your story in your essays.</p>
<p>The ACT score glitch worked for S’14’s scores- with writing. He took it hoping to raise his score by 1 and he raised it by 3! I’m so excited for him! His score is now the minimum for a lot of the full ride deals out there.</p>
<p>Welcome aboard Tinny! Get ready for a wild and crazy but rewarding ride.</p>
<p>KaMaMom - DD is planning ths same thing for Vandy if the ACT scores come up a couple of points. She waited too long to sign up for PreVu and is now on a wait list. If the numbers work, this will be her ED school. DS-2011 applied RD and was waitlisted. We weren’t as knowledgable then and didn’t do any ED applications.</p>
<p>Wow BarnardMom, congrats to your DS! It’s nice when they get a happy surprise like that!</p>
<p>Thank you everyone. I do have a question actually. I’m interested in UVa but my mom doesn’t like the fact that I’m going south (I live in Chicago) because of “racial tension”. Does anyone know about the level of tolerance (for lack of a better word) in the south, specifically at UVa. Or how do I convince her, I can handle myself in any environment?</p>
<p>Question about the ACT glitch – does this only work if you’ve taken the test once before? It doesn’t seem to be working for DS and this is his first time taking it.</p>
<p>Tinny – I am from Northern Virginia which the rest of Virginia doesn’t really consider the South, but I can tell you that a big chunk of students at UVA are from northern Virginia, which is really a suburb of DC. My DS has many friends there, of all races and ethnicities. My DH is from Chicago and both he and I are Northwestern alums and go back often so I am familiar with Chicago and I am pretty sure that the environment at UVA is not going to be different from Chicago. UVA is a pretty sophisticated place, with students and professors from everywhere.</p>
<p>Welcome, Tinny T! I believe I saw another new face in the past few days. </p>
<p>Barnardmom - WOW!! Congrats!! </p>
<p>KaMaMom - Good luck on the ED at Vandy! I am nervous about the financial aspect of any ED. If we find a school that DS likes with ED, we’ll definitely need to check out finances first (as much as you can with an ED school!).</p>
<p>We’re leaving in less than 12 hours for trip to Texas! Going to stop and visit friends in Big D on our way to Houston tomorrow. Will visit Rice, Texas A&M, spend a couple of days in San Antonio just goofing off, then UT-Austin. Someone suggested Trinity in San Antonio. I looked at it, but dismissed it because it said Engineering Science. Anyone have any experience with that school and what type of Engineering one would get with an Engineering Science degree?? Just curious. May do a drive by while we’re in the area.</p>
<p>Thanks to those of you posting visit reports to our group! I’ll try to update from the road, but may wait until I get home next weekend.</p>
<p>eyemamom: I’ll let you know what my son thinks of CNU after the visit. He really is not too excited about the visit, but he is not complaining, either. He’s too tired from Boys State. He had a blast, and after we stopped for lunch, he slept the final two hours til home. What brought a smile to his face was a letter from a small school’s track and field/cross country coach inviting him to tour the campus. This is the second note he has gotten in two weeks. We’ll probably go and visit the school later this summer. The athletic facilities have been updated in recent years, so that should please him.</p>
<p>Congrats s’14 of Barnardmom! What wonderful news!</p>
<p>Leaving on road trip of upper mid-west. There were so many schools we could visit but finally came down to five; University of Wisconsin, Earlham, Ohio University, Knox, and Beloit. Thank God DD can help with some of the driving! I fell like skipping Ohio but already have non-refundable hotel reservations.</p>
<p>Got the ACT glitch to work (with writing). D14’s score went up by two points, even with that nasty cold! Woohoo! I guess those mints really do work.</p>
<p>Congrats to your son, Barnardmom. And safe travels to all those visiting colleges. We hope to see some in August. And D14 does have a couple conferences on college campuses this summer, but not schools that she currently has any interest in (I wonder if her opinion will change after being on campus?)</p>
<p>Just wanted to say hi to everyone and join the group and discussions</p>
<p>Thanks all! </p>
<p>MImama- I wonder if the more formal test conditions are more conducive to taking the test. One of my son’s classmates raised her score by 4 points. </p>
<p>Welcome ctl987!</p>
<p>I think we’re going to wait to visit Wash U until early fall, when BarnardGirl is back at school. We can fly out for a weekend and not miss school or work because they have Saturday visits available.</p>
<p>Such a different perspective, I guess depending on where we live. I hear “upper Midwest,” Newfaith, and my brain goes north – Michigan, Minnesota, the Dakotas. </p>
<p>Waiting for tomorrow for ACTs, and I’m not expecting much, maybe even a decrease since school had been out for a couple of weeks. Still, I’m going to have to zip my lips and not nag d to check as soon as she gets up. She probably won’t do it until she gets off work at 6:30.</p>
<p>Got some questions. it will take me days to go through all these posts so sorry if they are asked and answered in previous posts. Difficulty of curriculum- our school only offers AP classes online at $750 a pop out of my pocket. kiddo is not taking any. Re school offerings, there are 4 weighted classes total in the entire curriculum. only one is called honors. my kid is taking 3 of these 4 classes, as well as Spanish 3 and 4. They plan to be a liberal arts or communication major and the 3 weighted classes they are taking are physics, honors chem, and calculus, which are obs. not needed for their intended major. Will schools view this as a demanding curriculum in light of what is available? they could but have chosen not to take classes at a CC which is 30 miles away. We live in a very rural area. also, we are a 100 point scale. Is A- translated to a 4.0 or something lower when converted to a 4.0 scale? Any opinions are welcome!</p>
<p>Tinny - UVA won’t have racial problems any more than any northern city or any other place. Racism tends to be tied to the individual more than the location once you get to the college level (sometimes below that too, of course). The best way to show your mom the way a college is would be to convince her to visit it with you…</p>
<p>ctl - here an A- is rated at a 3.6 and would include grades of 92-94. A is 4.0 and 95-97. A+ is 4.4 and 98-100. Schools all do things differently though. I suspect most (if not all) put their scale on the transcript.</p>
<p>No ED apps here. Finances mean a ton in our final decision. EA is ok, but not ED. Right now my guy is only considering 4 schools. I’d kind of like to see 5 or 6 on his list, but when he’s limiting himself to FL or HI and his scores are where they are + wanting aid… well, there aren’t too many choices. All he needs is one to work out.</p>
<p>Hello Everyone!
DD has finals next week, but luckily has none tomorrow. She figured out she only needs a 23.5 in Honors Pre-Calc to keep her average so she has been focusing on Honors Physics.
We still cannot access her June ACT scores but at this point we will just wait</p>
<p>Creekland, I like ur kid, only wants to go to Florida or Hawaii!!! Sounds like a cool kid :)</p>