<p>Re: packaging your kids- I borrowed a bunch of books from the library. The ones I liked best and later bought were: “What High Schools Don’t Tell You”, “What Colleges Don’t Tell You”, and “In! College Admissions and Beyond”.</p>
<p>Mommom1416- My DD13 is planning to study Astrophysics in college. She is in the IB program and is currently in IB Physics 2 and Calculus BC. She plans to get a PhD. </p>
<p>DS16 is very interested in Business but may do an Engineering undergrad then get an MBA. Not sure yet. He is not IB but is taking the same advanced track classes his older sister did. </p>
<p>My kids go to an urban school which has it’s plus and minuses. The district has these great specialized programs but then again about 1/2 of the senior class will barely make it to graduation.</p>
<p>DD’13 did better on the ACTs then the SATs. DS’16 has taken the PSATs a couple of times. We still haven’t seen his most recent scores. I need to get him to try the ACTs to see which is better for him. He can get one free prep class for either and I’d like him to take that during 10th grade.</p>
<p>Could you guys explain a little more about “packaging.” I mainly want to let my kid do the things he wants to do. He probably wouldn’t let me push him into anything else anyway. He has to do things in his own time and way.</p>
<p>Sounds like it’s more about telling their story…who they are and who they want to be. </p>
<p>We’ve always tried to help provide the opportunities for him that he needs to find fulfillment. For him, that’s math and physics oriented; he wants challenge in those areas. Which means we end up doing things like driving him 90 minutes so he could take the AMC 10 and then the AIME. So happy his high school has that as an in-house option! It was one thing we checked before committing.</p>
<p>It is important for parents to check out the current version of common app to understand the components and figure out what your kids might fill out to address what common app is asking for if you were to fill it out today. This is how you will identify if your child needs to look into adding more ECs or find things to do. I understand we can’t convince them to do more but I am sure if you show them the form, they can figure out it is not you pushing them.</p>
<p>A really important problem to remember - the common app and the college app process is under the belief that our children are born at age 14 and deposited at high school and nothing before can be counted. So if you have continuing activities it works great but if the activity stopped after middle school, it can’t be counted on for the common app.</p>
<p>I also suggest checking out supplements of any of the favorite colleges. commonapp allows anyone to create an account and all you have to say is the kid is not a senior in order to stay out of their accounting process and being honest.</p>
<p>The packaging, to me, is presenting your child in the best possible light through ECs, passions, etc. It also involves seeking out activities that your child can excel in that show his/her uniqueness and passion. The “High School” book I listed has some wonderful ideas for ECs for all kinds of interests. </p>
<p>DS16 is very interested in Business so this past summer (before 9th) we sought out volunteer activities related to his interests. He is working on securing a volunteer position for this summer. </p>
<p>piesquared- You should let your child do what they are interested in but encourage him or her to get deeply involved in just a few things instead of shallowly involved in many. I’d also try to find a couple of things outside of school by 11th or 12th grade. </p>
<p>As a note, the common app will be changing this year. The class of 2013 is the last to use the current version. :)</p>
<p>Dragonfly - thanks for the book recommendations. Wish I had that with D13!</p>
<p>Where S16’s interests are … He’s always loved music and theater and he’s now head over heels for all things acapella and musical theater. He’s so talented in math and scored very well on the AMC last year but his dad isn’t fostering that because it’s not “what he says he wants to do”. Sigh. I just ask that he try to keep up with his math because the chances of him needing it for college and life are, uh, 100%!! And I was a music major!! S16 placed in 5 statewide mu alpha theta competitions as an 8th grader against HS students last year without really working hard studying for it.</p>
<p>PSAT - S16 scored 168. I thought that was super for a 9th grader!</p>
<p>Yes carimama, I read also that the common app will remove the option to add additional information (resumes and the like - guess the kids were all going overboard) and it will no longer have the option to choose writing the essay about “topic of your choice.” Looks like adcoms are trying to get some more uniformity wrt submissions. </p>
<p>Also, great tip from someone about keeping general list of hours on activities and such. This way, there won’t be a scramble during the actual process.</p>
<p>I’ve never seen this pointed out specifically before, and I think it’s an important observation. My D (HS 2012) was a competitive figure skater through 8th grade, at which point she gave up skating because she was really at the point beyond which only those seriously trying to reach national and olympic level continue. She felt she wasn’t as talented as all that, needed to put more time into academics, middle to high school was a natural time to make a break, and her parents were grateful that we didn’t have to try to find the tons of money that high level skating costs. Nonetheless, D still loves to skate and feels her skating background is a vital part of who she is today. But as far as college apps were concerned, it didn’t exist.</p>
<p>Interesting note about the common app changes. Topic of your choice was possibly the best option out there for essays …</p>
<p>Are you folks planning on any summer activities to help the kids decide what they might like to study in college? S has been to CTY for different classes these past few years and loves it. They have a big social group and are planning to go back again this year. I don’t mind sending him, but was asking him to also think of other possibilities - some other camps he might enjoy just as much. He loved mock trial in school last year - if there are any camps that offer something like that, he would probably enjoy it. He also loves music and theater - has been involved in musicals for the past few years and plans on continuing them in high school now. So, a theater camp is another possibility. Any pointers appreciated…</p>
<p>DD has done a ton of summer camps - cooking camp, survival camp, and a ton of science camps at museums and universities near us. This summer, she’ll be in tennis camp, and we are seriously looking at medical school program on the east coast.</p>
<p>DD will be going to CTY program in the summer, first time away-camp. We are considering combined BS/MD program on the east coast. I was searching for hospital volunteer opportunities for her, but seems that there is nothing available before age 16 in our area.</p>
<p>Oh goodness, has anyone else started getting the college emails? My son used his dad’s work email as a contact on the PSAT. So, my husband thinks he needs to forward every single one of them to me so we both can be overwhelmed, I guess.</p>
<p>We’re definitely setting up a college-mail only email for the kid to use from here forward. He doesn’t check his regular email, so I’m sure he’ll check that one even less.</p>
<p>arisamp and anyone else asking about the summer - be sure to check out the summer programs forum for info about programs you never otherwise might have heard about.</p>
<p>Good advice everyone. I’ve got a D13, S14, and S17… was kind of curious about what is said on threads this “early” (not that it really is, but in terms of when most people start thinking about college seriously). I think pulling the common app is a great idea. So are supplements if there are schools already on your radar.
Summer baby-sitting counts too, don’t forget, as well as things like walking/ feeding your neighbors’ pets while they are away, mowing yards, etc.
Finally, once you do start looking at schools “seriously” some of them have good summer programs, one of which might interest your child. My D was pretty sure where her top choice school would be, so we had her do a very broad type program there for a week so she could really see what its like there. She loved it, applied and was admitted and I’m expecting she will attend. She will be much more comfortable, too, already knowing her way around. Just a suggestion.</p>
<p>Wow…it is so nice to see so many familiar names here! :)</p>
<p>I have been focusing so much on DS13 that I hadn’t even looked until recently to see if there was a '16 thread yet. I am so happy for DS16. It has been a challenging year. He was diagnosed with asthma in May when he was hospitalized for it and has really just had a miserable time with it for the last 5 months, being hospitalized again and missing a lot of school. He just switched from a small Catholic school with a class size of less than 20 and the entire K-8 school around 150 kids to the public high school with around a thousand kids. Even with the change and asthma issues he was able to pull off a 4.0 for the semester and he just informed me that he was elected freshman class president! He has an older brother that he tends to live in the shadow of - very smart and popular - so I am just so happy and RELIEVED! </p>
<p>As far as summer opportunities DS16 earned a scholarhip that has to be used before end of sophomore year so we are definitely trying to find a summer program. I just saw one that I thought sounded great - a robotics camp - he was less enthused. :(</p>
<p>Just got back from visiting S at boarding school. He’s doing very well so far - has adjusted to the school, all his teachers/counselors had only good things to say. Doing well academically - it was a joy to be there for a few days, get to interact with him, his teachers and new friends.</p>
<p>Second semester is just beginning. Class scheduling for next year is going into high gear - they are expected to narrow down on their choices by the end of this month. S is taking Chemistry this year and had expected he would take AP Bio next year. However, some folks advised that he might be better off taking AP Chemistry (if that’s one of the classes he is interested in). The idea is that he would retain most of the chemistry knowledge from this semester AND that AP Bio would be better after AP Chem since there is so much chemistry involved in AP Bio. Any input on this?</p>
<p>FWIW my DS13 (all A student) took Honors Chem then AP Chem and is now in AP Bio. He loved AP Chem and got a 5 on the exam. He is loving AP Bio less, he feels like there is a ton of busy work, but that could just be the teacher. Good luck!</p>
<p>so, my DS’16 (which I have been thinking was class of '17 until I recalculated) is just driving me nuts. I posted on another section, but thought I’d like some feedback here too. My kid is NOT the scholar/student; but, he is just as smart as those in the class. He just is not mature enough yet. I see here many posts of kids who are obviously motivated and “into” school. I want to know: whose kid out there class '16 (or experienced parents who had sons like mine) are more like my kid…and what tips/ideas do you have to get them to “grow up” and “show what they really are” inside that young, gangly, big-footed body of his/theirs! I’d send him to private school or boarding school if I could afford it, but that isnt happening. So, I’d love some other ideas! THANKS.</p>
<p>Hello everyone! I have a daughter graduating in 2016 and was thrilled to find this group. She is focused on STEM subjects and loves science and math in general.</p>
<p>DrMom, how about taking your son on some early college visits this spring or summer? Have him choose the colleges, and you and he can dispassionately examine the GPA, SAT/ACT scores, requirements for scholarship aid, etc. Might be a wake-up call for him. </p>
<p>A shout-out to DrMom and Mommaof5, I think I have seen you on the HS 2013/College 2017 Forum. I have been lurking there, but since you all are 1370+ pages into the discussion and have quite a virtual community, I have not been active in the discussion. I have a DS’13 as well as my DD’16 (and two others). I look forward to being part of the discussion from the beginning on this thread. Maybe in 3 years, we’ll be 1400+ pages deep.</p>
<p>So, S talked to his teachers and made the decision to take AP Chem next year. He has pretty much plotted his course for the next three years - I am amazed at his forethought and planning. When we visited him, we took him and a couple of friends out for dinner - the conversation between the kids was about classes for next year and it appeared that all of them had specific plans for classes. Maybe it is the school that encourages them to do this. Very pleased with what we have seen thus far.</p>
<p>In other news, he got cast in the school musical ! He’s very excited about this - it sure will take a lot of his time this upcoming semester.</p>
I have a DS’13 as well as my DD’16 (and two others). I look forward to being part of the discussion from the beginning on this thread. Maybe in 3 years, we’ll be 1400+ pages deep.</p>