Being one of the few girls (about 3 out of 10) in my law school class worked for me. I relished the fact that women stood out and found it easier to make my mark and be noticed as a good student. All of the guys knew who I was and it ultimately paid off - I met my husband there.
One interview and one campus tour this past weekend. D came away from the interview with the Lawrence AO excited to apply–she really liked what the school offers. For a small school, they have a good program with Washington, DC for internships and that really sparked her interest. Hasn’t budged American from its top spot (and she still wants to go ED), but there are other schools she could see herself at, so that’s good.
Clark was a bust. I kind of figured it would be. She was really resistant to it. Didn’t help that we drove by strip clubs once we exited the highway to get to the campus (the area around the campus itself seemed fine). She didn’t like the vibe, but couldn’t really articulate what it was about it she didn’t like (probably the fact that I liked it so much). I loved it. The campus itself didn’t wow me, but the students we interacted with were really friendly, well-spoken, and clearly felt they had found their home there. There’s a real focus on marrying the liberal arts experience with practical/real world application. Very social justice/community service focused. I cannot lie, the 5th year master’s program (free tuition) is also a draw for me. Ah well, at least this whittles the list down a bit–it was unlikely to come in at an affordable COA (at least before factoring in the master’s). So now we are down to 13.
@klinska: I feel your pain! I learned this lesson last March when we were doing tours in PA. My D really liked Haverford when we visited, she sat in on a great class, etc. As for me-- I felt like I had died and gone to college heaven – I was completely smitten by the school. As soon as D saw that it was MY “dream school” for her, it suddenly took a nosedive on her list. Lesson learned! Now when she asks my opinion after a college visit, I usually say “Meh. It’s OK. If you really like it, you should apply.” This approach seems to have worked very well! 
They are working on essays all week in AP Lit so that’s a great thing (from my perspective lol). I had hoped to hit submit on a few last weekend but he was simply too busy to work on anything at all even though he is really close to being done. Hoping maybe tonight actually as he doesn’t have much homework but we will have to see on that. Good news though, one LOR uploaded so I “think” once the kid hits submit those will go to the schools that have apps in pretty much right away. However, the HS profile/transcript supplement STILL isn’t updated. I am sure it will be by the 11/1 deadline and with electronic submissions I’m not overly concerned but I am really glad we don’t have any 10/15 schools! His LOR writer has hard copies for him too (not requested)…not sure if they are sealed or not, so it will be interesting to see what he wrote if we are able.
@klinska that is wonderful she liked Lawrence so much. We’ve got several meetings coming up and one I still need to schedule (and several emails the kid needs to send) so it is a busy month on that front. Lawrence looks really lovely! I couldn’t get S to bite on Wisconsin, I think Beloit would be a good fit for him. Lawrence as well (and they are stalking lol) but their music program is arguably too strong so I’ve not pushed it. A good friend just toured Juniata and they loved it, kind of sad that one fell off too now.
@cameo43 yes, you have to be very careful not to like a school too much. I’m in love with one of S’s schools (on paper mind you, we’ve not visited) and I need to be careful or that will be a major turn off for him. LOL!
@snoozn yes, I am pretty upset about the new late work policy. In concept I support it entirely but you can’t take kids that are used to a variety of approaches with late work their entire HS career and institute a new online grade system, online submission system and a new late policy all at once. It’s a disaster at my house right now. Much more so with S17 than S19 but it has hit them both. Steep learning curve and a complete new way for them to try to get organized and be proactive. Ultimately it will benefit them both, especially S17 at college next year but at the moment, he needs to survive this first quarter! It is a very robust system and really has tremendous upside potential but it’s too much change all at once. At least for my senior, not sure how his peers are doing as I’ve not had those chats yet with other parents at his grade (though have heard similar from the lowers).
Just had my first college app “stress dream” before I woke up this morning…somehow my D17 didn’t get into any of her safeties but oddly did get into Oberlin, where she isn’t even applying. Sigh. Long time from now until May 1. 
Pace yourself, @kt1969!
Back from our weekend trip. Sucessfull college visit to UCSC. I will post a more detailed college tour description on the main board tomorrow. (Haven’t read it in almost a week & it sure moves fast.) But the almost immediate decision was he was sure he’d be happy at Santa Cruz. The only thing the school was missing was no marching band. Told me he’s not going to worry about those details till he gets in, and then evaluate what is really a priority. (I totally agree with this plan.) After listening to the admissions talk. (Not that great) But I do feel he has a good change to get in. It really is a very good "fit’. He liked that the school was in the middle of a forest and not really groomed.
Big family event on Saturday. Was reminded that an extended family member (relative of a relative) taught at Colorado College until recently. S17 heard a bit more info about Colorado college, and is still not interested.
And near the end of our college tour day, S17 did show me he got the National Merit Commended certificate. I new it was coming, but I’m still proud. Now he has something to put in the awards category on his apps.
Progress update, good bad and ugly. LOL!
Good.
S did submit his “final” draft of his personal statement to the AP Lit teacher to review for a last set of eyes, he will get that feedback tomorrow. Very hopeful we will be DONE with it after that. Because he was able to do that, he used the class time to get 2 of his supplements done. One which he feels is pretty final, the other still needs work. It’s at best 1/4 of the way there on the supplements but 2 of the “harder” ones so that is major progress in my book and luckily all of the schools with supplements are 12/1 schools, not 11/1. He said it was pretty interesting to see how his classmates used the time. His close friend spent it all looking at scholarships and not writing a thing. He won’t be submitted any of the supplements to the teacher, feels I can edit and that will be enough. Which is a change, actually letting me comment on them.
One LOR was uploaded yesterday, S will get a copy of it on Friday, which is very nice of the LOR writer to share. S also nagged LOR writer #2 but at least we know one letter will be in on time for the 11/1 schools.
S decided finally to join the Environmental Club. Which has seemed quite odd for the past year that he wasn’t already but his composting king role was related to Student Council lol. Apparently they really weren’t doing anything (watching climate change movies) so the kid has decided to take on energy conservation at a school wide level and has been interacting directly with the district facilities director as well as a local solar energy group to explore options. Apparently he’s the only guy in the club. And was very much “mom, I have no idea what they’ve been doing all this time!” He is pretty excited about it, he is getting great response and interaction from the district and learning a lot.
Bad.
S requested a transcript 3 weeks ago and still hasn’t received it. I sent an email today as his requests are going nowhere.
The HS profile that goes out with the counselor letters and transcript still isn’t updated for the 16-17 year class. SO glad we don’t have an 10/15 deadline! I did gently mention it in my transcript email request.
Ugly.
S apparently had his GC meeting last week. It was such a non meeting he didn’t bother to update me on it! It was definitely for the purpose of her being able to fill out the counselor “letter” form. She is apparently brand new to counseling, and very possibly to teaching, he said she was really green. She had zero input on his schools (he didn’t ask, she didn’t offer), asked him if he had questions about FAFSA or the Common App and that was IT!. He allegedly gave her a completed form with some info on it to help her complete the letter. I have no idea what he wrote down, if it was a brag sheet (and if he bragged at all) so heaven only knows what her submission will look like. No clue what box she will check for rigor either. NOT happy. Nothing I can do about it but not happy.
Also ugly are the grades thanks to the new system and S’s slow adoption of it. Sigh. Super annoyed with the kid. He apparently seemed to think that since he already had a personal statement to submit, he didn’t need to do the homework assignment that was the “brainstorm” part that was supposed to be turned in prior to the rough draft. Now, the teacher may decide to give him a pass on it once he sees the essay as there was nothing to brainstorm but at the moment has marked it late which falls into the dreaded 60% credit bucket at best. I’ve promised to shut up and let him handle this stuff but he is KILLING me at the moment. I do know it will be ok, it always is but I truly hate the rollercoaster. Not to mention this particular teacher is horrible about updating late assignments in the gradebook and it is always at the 11th hour. He’s got a new baby, 4 year old twins, the fall play, and the admin stuff falls aside as a result (hence why we may only have one LOR in on time for the 11/1 schools lol!).
@kt1969 ugh, I am not looking forward to college stress dreams, I am sure they will happen! Pretty funny that it involved a school not even on the apply list.
@curiositycat333 I would think UCSC would be a wonderful option, would he consider any other music ensemble if no marching band? Colorado College is an interesting school, I think it’s a love it or hate it kind of place for a few reasons. Based on what your S seems to like I wouldn’t think it would be a fit (it’s not for us either). Congrats on commended!
@eandesmom Thanks. I knew UCSC would be a good option. But it’s helpful to see it. And since it’s where I went, to see that it’s because I think it’s a FIT for him rather than just because it’s where I went. We didn’t really look at the other music ensembles. Had an overdue talk with S17 and he’s NOT as far a long as I’d previously though. He’s opened the UofO and Common App. But none of the other yet. He keeps telling me not to nag him and he will get it done. SIGH. We have his 504 meeting in a week, so while that won’t be about colleges I might be able to at least meet his new counselor.
Sorry to hear about your sons’s new counselor. Sounds frustrating, at least he has you I guess.
I can totally relate to your aggregation about the new homework policy. This is something that would potentially be a huge problem for S17. What about kids who have 504’s? One of the items in S17’s is that he can turn certain assignments in late, given he negotiates with the teacher. (It’s an anxiety thing.) I would be just as frustrated as you. I haven’t looked yet, but so far S17’s grades have been fine. Crossing my fingers spirit week & our weekend trip didn’t change that, I haven’t looked online yet.
@curiositycat333 it’s a combo of the new policy and the new software still glitchy system. Half the kids can’t get the app to load right and it shows limited info. They aren’t on a laptop all the time and if they miss the window for seeing things, they could get really penalized.
My other big beef is that it doesn’t show GPA! It shows % by class, no cumulative at all. So they can’t really “see” at a glance the impact a class is having to the big picture and frankly there is a lot to be said for that shock value. They have requested that as an addition but I suspect the software isn’t capable of anything more than a % or letter grade given what I’ve seen so far. I think it will be good ultimately but senior year is a brutal year to retrain these kids on a global policy change when it’s been loose in the past and they have some of the same teachers where it was loose!
Is he trying to get OSU done by 11/1? Is that the earliest deadline he has?
Yes the earliest is the OSU by 11/1. I’d like the Cal State done soon as well. But he needs some information from his counselor & I’m trying not to get in the middle. I can’t find his 7th grade report cards anywhere and he needs his Algebra I grades from that year. I’d like him to at least OPEN the applications so he can see what other information he might be missing.
The fun in our H.S. is we got a new principal last year (previous one had been there over 10 years) that I don’t really care for. The last one was a bit relaxed and this one is a stickler for anything that is a rule. First thing he did last year was crack down on the dress code policy (in the middle of the August heat). They changed the parking rules. He’s cracked down on volunteers walking around campus without signing in, and kids out of classrooms during class time. It’s our last year so we are trying to just roll with the punches & hope it doesn’t affect S17 too much.
@curiositycat333 ugh. We’ve had that as well. Interim principal last year, new one this year. Too early to really say. So many changes I’m not sure what is going on these days. Much easier for S19 to adapt than for S17.
I’m surprised you can’t see 7th grade online if you are still in the same school district. I can see the kids stuff from K on, or well I used to. Now with this new system…maybe not. Ugh. Our school just puts P on the HS transcript for the math classes taken in MS. Probably for language as well but I’ve not seen that yet since S17 didn’t take FL in MS, S19 did.
It’s hard not to get in the middle. S17 really needs to get the activity list done and the first draft was painful. I can’t see how round 2/final will take much time at all but I think he’s scarred from the last experience. Assuming minimal edits to the essay after review tomorrow it’s the only thing keeping him from hitting submit on 3 apps. Well, other than actually uploading the essay into the apps.
I am a bit worried though, his english teacher made a bit of a big deal about word count, suggesting kids have too much and then cut down. Which S17 has already done. He’s at 590 words. Which seems fine to me. Hopefully the teacher doesn’t suggest additions! It does look like the AP Lang assignment issue is momentarily fixed although he did get dinged on the late fee on one (app upload fail…totally S17’s fault, he should have double checked, new system isn’t an excuse) and it appears he’s gotten a pass on the pre-essay work. The one that kills us at the moment is Jazz, in 4 years he has never had homework in Jazz. EVER. The concert bands, yes. Jazz? Never! Didn’t bring his folder home, didn’t check the new system, didn’t occur to him to check and as a result…didn’t record and upload what he should have and boom. Late. The grade will go back up but it drives me nuts when it takes forever for them to update when late work is turned in.
@endesmom We have had that problem with band. S17 has always gotten easy A’s out of his band classes. One semester teacher assigned “homework” that S17 didn’t turn in. Looked like he had a terrible grade for most of the semester. Luckily that assignment wasn’t a lot of points, and when his participation grades got added his grade when back to an A.
As for the online portal. I can only see “last” years grades on the online portal. We have used the same system for years, but I can’t see a way to get back to 7th grade. The links don’t even daisy chain. The UC’s and Cal State ask for grades for math & language classes taken in 7th & 8th grade. They won’t be on his transcript and will only be self reported. They are good grades (mostly A’s) so I think they would be helpful to include. Particularly with his state of 9th grade grades. All he needs to do is ask they counselor & it will be in his file. I could probably even email her, or I might ask at the 504 next week.
S17 did write a CA essay for his English class. But I haven’t seen it nor the grade on it yet. I have no idea what she is doing with it.
D got her first official acceptance, from Bradley. Interactive Media major, 25 ACT, 3.5 UW, 3.74 W GPA, got the Dean’s Scholarship. Need to see where else she gets accepted and what scholarships come before she chooses a school.
Congrats to your daughter, @poblob14! So exciting to see these acceptances start coming in! We’ve got a ways to go before we start (hopefully!) seeing anything!
@cameo45 I have to do the same, not get too excited about a school. Or S17 might be turned off though.
@poblob14 Congrats. Earliest we expect any acceptances will be in mid Dec. Have to actually submit some essays though, but it wouldn’t make much of a difference anyway.
@poblob14 congrats!! Bradley is not entirely off our list, just tabled for now, it looks like a great option!
I’ve been following this thread for a while now. My son has a 3.45 UW (3.55 W) and 27 ACT. And he just got his first acceptance to Iowa State University. We knew he would get it, but it’s still exciting to see his first acceptance come in. We’re visiting next month, and I can’t wait to see what he thinks! I just thought I’d share since I think my family and friends are getting tired of hearing about college!
Congrats, @iamgriffinsmom - it really is a great feeling to get that first one!
@eandesmom, BU is at or near the top of D’s list, but the money may be an issue. She really wants to do their semester in Hollywood, though!
One interesting things that S17 mentioned this weekend was that he might be interested in doing a CS & Linguistics double major. (Or Linguistics minor) I think he is still exploring that idea but it’s interesting. Checked it out at the schools he is applying and all have a linguistics minor but not all a major. It seems as if that is really want he wants to do UCSC, UCSB, or CU Boulder would be his best picks vs. the Oregon schools.
Who knows if that will stay. But I think I’ll at least encourage him to put that down on his Boulder app.