Well, the Oct. SAT was D’s worst of the 3 she took. Sigh. She worked with a tutor in preparation for the June test, but studied on her own for the Oct. test–I guess the tutor was worth it. All scores have been sent, so it is what it is. Her June sitting was by far her best, and as long as the school’s really do what they say they do and take the highest score (and don’t speculate why the most recent score is the lowest), she stands a good shot at most of her schools. Onward and upward!
On the good news front, D checked in with her recommenders–one said he’d have the LOR done by Friday and the other committed to Nov. 1. As long as they do what they promise, she’s in good shape!
I’m selling S17 for cheap this morning. ARRGH. I know it’s normal teenage behaviour (though H can’t seem to see that) but ugh. Kid got called into work last night as they were short staffed. Extra shift and money is great. However he then decided to work on his essay last night, asking me to read and edit at 11pm which meant I was up until midnight. He has a huge english test today and I know he didn’t go to bed when I did. Not a pleasant child to be around this morning trying to get out the door for jazz band. I swear between snarling cranky teens who aren’t giving themselves enough time to eat breakfast and then slamming things as they run out the door to an H who is snarling at the slamming of things and the whining of the poor ignored cat…I cannot wait to run away next weekend for a girls trip.
Too.Much.Testosterone!
However.
The essay, I think, is DONE!
With maybe 8 words to spare. LOL!
And it’s pretty darn good. Definitely stronger than the first version that the english teacher had him redo, and did keep some of the best parts. Perhaps longer than WWU would like (no stated limit though they reference a 500 word count) but there is no way we are having 2 different essays.
@klinska I am sorry, the free score send is always scary. I’m glad her recommenders have given her dates. Onward and upwards is all we can do, right?
Long time lurker here. Working on DS2. Apps are done, LOR’s are in and I believe the GC has finally completed everything. We’ve even got a few acceptance letters - but not the ones he’s hoping for. Those won’t come until end of Nov at least. I think he’s finally realizing why I was on his case all summer and early August to get things done. He plays a fall sport and I knew it was going to be a problem if he didn’t have things squared away early.
Has anyone done an overnight visit yet? We’ve done the basic tours but think he’ll probably need an overnight visit and sit in on a class or two for at least the 2 top choices. Wondering how we’re going to schedule that with a spring sport too.
@eandesmom I hear you about the cranky testosterone. I’m the only female in this household and this morning was brutal. Not sure why but they were all crabby.
@eandesmom, sorry for a tough morning, but YAY! Essay! That’s great. Sounds like the end product might have been worth all the angst.
@smakl70, welcome! Congrats on your S’s acceptances! No overnight visits here–we haven’t even done basic visits to all of my D’s prospective schools (and won’t unless she gets accepted). Then again, D hasn’t actually submitted an application yet, either. Hoping the lack of any in-depth visits will be moot, as she is applying ED to her top choice. If she doesn’t get in to her ED choice, we probably would restrict overnight visits/sitting in on classes to top contenders among her accepted schools.
https://www.francis.edu/Environmental-Engineering/
they have a renewable energy concentration
http://www.upb.pitt.edu/energyinstitute/
I also found this ^
My son received his acceptance to Colorado State this morning. We visited the school last week, and he was not overly impressed, but I’m glad he has options. He was already accepted to Iowa State and we are visiting next month–he’s eligible for a couple of automatic scholarships there, so I’m really hoping he likes it. His top pick is the University of Denver, but we won’t hear from them until mid-December for early action, and I’m really not sure that it’s going to be affordable (the NPC made it look like a possibility, but we will see). BUT all of his apps are in (unless he decides to add any additional schools), so I’m excited about that!
@mommdc , Thanks! He actually visited Pitt this summer. His GPA maybe too low for Pitt and his Oct SAT M was lower than expected 
Ironically, just sent away for St. Francis info before seeing your post. The only issue with St Francis is he also wants ROTC.
Sounds like many of you have kids who are getting everything in. My 2013 son was pushing the envelope still in December, usually minutes before the application was due.
Congratulations, @iamgriffinsmom and @!
@smakl70, No overnight visits for S17, but D15 did a few. URochester, USC (CA) and Tulane come to mind. USC & Tulane were part of accepted students events. URochester was in the fall and we linked it to an open house event. They were all excellent experiences in that she got an inside view of what it’s like to be a student at each school, eat in the cafeteria, go to the library, etc. It made her final decision a lot easier. Not all schools offer overnights but it’s worthwhile to do them if you can.
@klinska, S17 took his ACT’s last Saturday, and ended the science section making a space error so that he was putting the answers in the wrong row. He erased quickly and tried to correct but it was pencils down, time is up. So disappointing. He only had one wrong on the science section last time and it was scaled down to a 34 :(. Also the math section was the most difficult yet (a view shared by kids on the ACT thread). He may get his lowest ACT composite score yet, and it’s going to be sent to his EA schools, which is a bummer. My fingers are crossed for a good scale, at least on the math!
@coloradomom2015 did you receive a FA package from Iowa State or were you just commenting on their scholarships generally? My son was accepted a couple of weeks ago, but we haven’t received anything official regarding scholarships.
@longhaul, yes for Pitt main engineering the GPA and scores might be too low. But if he went to Pitt Bradford and started there, he might be able to transfer later. Anyways, you could check out the specifics of the program there.
I remembered that someone had told me that they were studying environmental engineering at St Francis.
And I know that Pitt is big on sustainability, and that link for Pitt Bradford energy institute came up in an internet search.
@smakl70 Welcome!!! You are in impressive shape. No overnight visits yet but possibly one in Nov. He needs to interview at one of his schools and as it is local, we could make it an overnight. Or not and do that after acceptance. He spoke with an alumn at the college fair last weekend who really stressed the overnight so…dunno. I think I’d rather have him do an AO interview at the school (60 min drive) versus an alumni interview closer to home. We are also missing a lot of basic visits, hope to do that in Feb for accepted schools along with sitting in on classes and maybe overnights.
Is it a full moon tonight? All 3 of the males were growly and uncooperative this morning. I have a work event tonight, makes me NOT want to rush home lol.
@iamgriffinsmom congrats on the acceptances. Hopefully the ones he wants will soon follow!
@klinska I do think it was worth it but…not sure the 20 minute argument about the meaning of a specific word choice in the essay was worth my sleep deprivation headache this morning that I can’t seem to shake. There is one other word choice he really needs to look at and choose a path but it was not something that needed to be done last night. But really needs to be thought out before uploading. I am hoping that the lack of sleep doesn’t contribute to poor performance on an AP Lit test today. He’s feeling pretty unsure about it so who knows.
On the positive side, AP Calc and Theater Tech came up as expected so while I’d like a couple of grades higher it is definitely turning the right corner for a livable quarter report barring any disasters over the next 2 weeks.
@jmek15 UGH, so sorry on the bubble row issue, that is so heartbreaking when that happens.
I just got an email today that the GC LoR is done (although it doesn’t show as uploaded yet). The GC wants D to come see her tomorrow to discuss a few things. That will be a good opportunity for D to get various questions answered. Anyway, whew! #:-S
@curiositycat333, I looked up a few of her schools and they were not very clear on “other stuff” deadlines. But in searching I came across an “Ask the Dean” question on CC about the topic and her answer was that even a week or two shouldn’t make a difference on items not sent directly by the student. I’m still glad the wait appears to be over.
@Longhaul, does your S definitely want to go the environmental engineering route? D’s list is all based on EE programs. She is taking a DE class at our local university called “Sustainable Energy” which is a course covering how different engineering disciplines work with sustainable energy. I asked her today what she’d learned about the different areas. Most are inter-disciplinary. She said env eng would be mostly about predicting the environmental impact of different kinds of sustainable projects. For example, given a specific dam project they would determine if there might be an unexpected harmful impact from the dam. (She also said “but look it up just in case I’m wrong!”)
Really any engineering discipline could be applied in some way to sustainability issues. But as @eandesmom said, EE, ME and ChE are the most common to have focus areas on renewables in college. Your S might be interested in the book D’s class is using: Sustainable Energy - Without the Hot Air. (no textbook prices – about $16 used on Amazon). It’s not specific to engineering (the prof makes those connections), but it’s a good overview of the topic. Now that I think about it, @eandesmom, your S would probably get a lot out of it too.
And regarding getting stuff done early – oldest D didn’t get any EA apps in and with several schools she was just a few hours before the deadline. D17 likes to get things done so she can quit worrying about them. Wish I were more that way.
@klinska, sorry about the non-helpful SAT. But if she hadn’t taken it, you’d probably both be wondering if she should have. I speak from experience as D only took the ACT once and put her foot down on “no more tests!” even though I wanted her to give it a go. I’m fine with it now though.
@eandesmom, yep, I’d say normal teenage behavior. Doesn’t mean we have to like it. At least he’s done with the essay, right? D did the same thing with WWU (using CA essay) and I bet a lot of kids do.
@smakl70, acceptance already and more around the end of November? Nice!
My oldest D did a couple of overnight visits and they were helpful. At one of her reachier schools the girls she stayed with were all “Woohoo, we’ll go party – you’ll love it!” D is more of a “drink tea with friends while playing D&D” kid than a “frat party” kid but I don’t think her hosts even considered that some people might not be partiers. Underage drinking seemed to be the norm and D was not impressed. The school rejected her so I guess it didn’t matter anyway!
Her other overnight was at Ursinus. She didn’t particularly share interests with her host, but the girl was very welcoming and found out what D wanted to do and see. She liked the school and received nice merit, but ended up elsewhere. I also think sitting in on classes is a great idea. D17 has done that twice. She was signed up at two other schools but one class was cancelled and another was having a big exam!
@iamgriffinsmom, congrats on the acceptance and having everything in. When did he submit his app to CSU? D submitted hers a few days ago and scores are there. As per above her HS should be sending the rest soon.
I know there are a few other Goucher applicant parents on here…did you see that they just announced they will not be increasing the tuition next year? Pretty cool. 
@snoozn My son applied last Thursday, so it took exactly a week to hear from CSU. We toured on Wednesday and they said that they’re trying to get acceptances out quickly–a few days to a couple of weeks depending on the admissions officer. I’m sure your daughter will hear good news soon!
Whoo hoo! I am excited to say that we have hit submit on 3 apps! Very exciting. Knox, Lewis & Clark, and UVM are in and done. Only had to pay for UVM’s app, so that was cool–waiver from Knox and L&C doesn’t charge. Just need to get St Michael’s in for 11/1–bit of work left to do on their “why st mike’s” question. Annnnd need to submit FAFSA and CSS. Both are nearly done, just need a few more numbers. Oh, and then submit the rest of the 15 freaking schools on the list. NBD. 
@kt1969 I did just see that about Goucher! That is so cool.
15??? Holy cats
@eandesmom Seriously. 15. Sigh.
@kt1969 that’s a lot!!! I have to admit I get tempted by fee waivers but S17 has no such issues so we are holding at 7. Right now it looks like we will be paying for 5 but one can hope, right?