@snoozn OK… I’ve come up with an avatar. Not the one you suggested. But I can’t for the life of me figure out how to add it. I’m supposed to be UI guru. I’ve even googled for instructions and I’m stumped.
Looks like the vote is in for Auto Shop @HiToWaMom. I wanted to take wood shop in high school, but back then “girls aren’t allowed to take shop…take home ec”. Home ick for me, so I took band to avoid home ec (already knew how to cook and knew I disliked sewing.) And I agree that migh actually make your D stand out. Plus she will have fun and it’s practical.
S can apply to as many schools as he wants to. He will not reach 10. He’s at more like 6 if I make him apply to the state flagship where he doesn’t want to go.
@snoozn I finally figured it out. (Took me 10 minutes of clicking around IDK why.) How’s this… not real curious…
@Mom2aphysicsgeek : That’s a beautiful photo!
D17 voted for the first time today: we waited on line outside for 45 minutes and it went very smoothly once inside. She felt so great. Our kids will be seniors in college for the next presidential election. gulp
Finally dropped off mail in ballot. I am a slacker 
@curiositycat333 Love your Fibonacci cat pic! :x
@HiToWaMom yes for auto shop. sounds fun.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek Love your serenity photo! :x
@STEM2017 I agree on sending the new score. There goes your $12 per school. :-h
Got the Colorado School of Mines acceptance. DS refused to submit an optional essay. I guess at the Stat-based acceptance school they do not mind kids not going the extra mile (or a yard or foot [-( of uploading already done common app essay).
Voted this morning - got there at 7:05 and ended up #58 to vote. D is sad she can’t vote - she’s only 16. Some of her friends get to vote for the first time. She was an Election Ambassador last year and has been engaged ever since.
@pyn4ward - congrats on Colorado School of Mines. My S17 is also waiting on that one - we expect it will probably be the first response he gets.
@Motiv8tedmom23 Thank you. It took a month and 2 days to get the news. We are in-state, so no surprise. Wishing you good luck!
I chose my name to be a shorthand of Paying it forward but I guess it is difficult to type in or make the connection. :))
@payn4ward @Motiv8tedmom23 Congratulations! We are waiting on Mines here, too.
@payn4ward - Congrats on CSM. It is a great school here in Colorado. Golden is a great town at the base of the foothills. Skiing within an hour! My S18 is considering applying there but he thinks it is too close to home (60 minute drive).
Seeing all the very long voting lines, I realize that we are very spoiled in our town. I have never spent more than five or ten minutes inside the polling place, and that includes showing my ID, handing a card to person at next desk, obtaining ballot from the next person, and then filling in the circles in black marker before depositing ballot in locked box. MUCH more time spent chatting in the parking lot with friends and neighbors I do not see often enough.
CONGRATS @payn4ward!
I cannot keep up with the acceptances and was discouraged to see that a few students have more acceptances than the # of apps son has already submitted. Using the day off to work on fifth app…I think. I hear typing, but that could mean anything.
Thank you everyone! I was surprised with all the YESes for auto shop. I thought playing it safe would be the best thing to do.
Maybe taking auto shop ties in nicely with her common app essay. She wrote about the frustration of how fashion conscious girls are not taken seriously and considered air-heads and that she wants to be a multifaceted woman with different dimentions.
Congratulations to everyone getting acceptances. It’s so easy to get behind on this board it moved so fast, it’s hard to keep track.
@panyard I know what you mean about not going the extra. In the one app S17 has submitted already he hasn’t done the optional essay. I still think he has a reasonable chance to get in. Now that things have settled down & life isn’t so crazy for him. I need to sit down and talk with him. Not going to do it today… everyone’s one edge.
We talked about School of Mines for DS, but I don’t think he has the grades to get in & he wasn’t that interested.
Anyone else’s kid annoyed they can’t vote this election? (S17 isn’t turning 18 till Feb.)
I’ll post the same PSA here that I’ll be giving in all of my classes today: If you’re an American citizen and haven’t yet, go out to vote! It’s a good thing to do.
Or, if you don’t, I’ll simply thank you for making my vote count for more.
@payn4ward – Congrats on Colorado School of Mines! Great news - i have heard very good things about the school.
Voted early this year so I could go with my D17 and witness her first time! Kids have the day off today, and I knew there was no way she’d get up and go with me before work, and she wouldn’t want to wait until I got home from work, so we went together the weekend before last. It’s the first time early voting (apart from absentee voting) has been offered in our state–I have to say, it took a little of the magic out of it for me (but watching my D step into the voting booth put it back).
I need today to be a productive work day, but all I’m doing is clicking back and forth between this site and CNN.com!
On the application limit … no more than 10 period (at least that is the policy and has been for several years – actually, I heard a rumor that it was 7 at some point before that but maybe that was prior to such prevalent use of Common App). It has been challenged in the past, but the school has not budged.The CC claims the average number actually submitted per student is 7. The reasoning behind the policy is allegedly that the school is better able to support a student’s application (vis-a-vis college admissions offices) if the student has really thought through his or her list and is applying only to schools that would be a good “fit.” With a class of around 100 students, the CCs think their sorting hat method helps the kids with admissions in the end. (And, tbh, I haven’t really heard too many parents complain after the fact … maybe it does all work out.)
Yes, this is generally a parent body that can afford full pay, and lots and lots of kids apply ED. For many students, the limit is not a problem, and they can’t imagine submitted 10+ apps. However, this policy does put several different categories of kids at a disadvantage. First, of course, kids that are chasing merit widely. But also, for instance, highly qualified kids who are chasing reaches. Since so many of the top 20 schools seem to be lotteries nowadays, and with SCEA and the increase in ED, any mandatory limit just adds unnecessary pressure. On top of all this, the school does not give families access to Naviance information, so it seems very difficult to make educated, strategic decisions. Now, as I said, most folks generally seem satisfied when all is done, so maybe it all works out. It just sure makes many families uncomfortable and nervous along the way. Deep breaths…
I always vote in the evening, with the kids in tow. They’ve been a part of this process since birth. Left or right, heaven or hell, my hope is that they will always exercise this great privilege.
** Empty Nester ** This is a topic I was going to bring up. S17 is my 2nd kid and this last year of H.S. is hitting me a whole lot harder than it was with D12. We won’t really be empty nesters since, D12 has moved back home and will probably be here a few years. But it’s not the same.
BUT I’ve started to become very sad about S17 leaving. He has avery different personaility than my DD and he is already ready to move out of the house. (He’s also 8 months older than his sister was at this time of the school year.) He’s kind of already left us mentally. He is hoping to get a job as a councelor a summer camp & be gone all summer starting in mid-June. My D12 came home most summers and most vacations. (Except for T-giving & spring break senior year.) There was a high chance she would move back home. If everything goes right for S17 he’s likely to leave in June and only come home for sort stays. It’s what I want for him, but it still makes me sad.
@DMV301 How do they enforce that? At our school we pay through Parchment for transcripts, and everyone contacts College Board ourselves. I can see their point, and I think many kids can probably restrict their lists more than they do. I can see them saying our councilors will only send out letters to X schools, only so many teacher letters or things get out of hand. But how do they stop the kids from applying to extra STATS based schools. Will they not send more than 10 transcripts? Is that even legal?