All good advice, @morningside95. Our school is a large public, too, with only 4-5 counselors. Not sure they spend much as much time with everyone (actually, I’m sure they don’t), but we’ve had a good experience.
But, don’t get me wrong, @carachel2, the bulk of ‘college planning’ is on us. I’m only looking to D’s GC for a little input, plus information on the process and timing of everything (we too have Naviance, but as someone above mentioned, schools may use/buy different features). She has some input on schools (I think I mentioned she was in college admissions prior to coming to our HS), but she will obviously not know my kid well enough to turn anything over to her. I’m sure some people do, but that’s not how we work together. She is awesome, and we’re lucky to have her as a resource.
I just picked up dd from the SAT. She said there were only 20 students, total. 10 in the room w/ writing, 10 in the room w/o. Normally there are about 75.
She isn’t quite sure how she did. She said she didn’t pace herself well enough and didn’t get to 3 grid-ins (she had the answer for one and was in the middle of grinding it in when time was called), and 2 in the other section, and 2 reading questions. She only wrote 3 paragraphs and a sentence.
I told her to forget about it at this point bc it is what it is. We’ll know in May. I wonder if the confirming score for NMF will be as low this yr as last yr. A 1390 should be doable.
Interesting, there were tons of students at my son’s test site. He said there were about 35 rooms of students with 20 some kids per room. It was the only site in our mid-sized city that was giving the test though. It took them forever to get started, because of a huge traffic backup from all the cars arriving, and apparently they had the test booklets distributed wrong among the rooms and had to redistribute them.
He thought it was about as he expected, although he didn’t like the passage for his essay, and said it was harder than the sample ones to write about. He finished the last grid in on the no calculator section with 5 seconds to spare, but other than that had no time issues.
I thought the NMF qualifying score would be lower than 1390, that seems high. I think last year was 1960, which corresponds to just over 1300 on a 1600 scale. I guess we will have to wait and see.
According to the current version of the concordance, a 196 (old psat) is approximately a 1340 (new psat), so the qualifying score should be around there but who knows.
My D’s class has about 800 kids, and the GC is of zero help. Unfortunately we don’t have naviance so we are on our own. My other D16 asked her teachers for LOR in August and she was one of the first to do so. Most kids stay in state so my D is one of the few that applied OOS. She applied to 10 schools and only 1 was instate. D17 has decided to apply ED and she will also apply to the 1 instate school since the app is due in November. (You are allowed to apply ED and also to any public school as long as it’s not binding). It’s a great idea to ask teachers before school lets out and give them a form letter about you to help them out.
Meanwhile, the ACT is in 5 weeks and my D hasn’t done much. I’ve told her I want her to take a practice test every week and then go over the answers she missed. So in the past 2 weeks she has done 1/2 a test. I don’t want to be a nag but I know that if I don’t say anything and she goes into the test without practice she will say ‘mommy why didn’t you push me more!’ So I put some sticky notes around her room and bathroom with just a 36 on it to help motivate her. She thought it was funny and approved of my method. Let see if it works!
Each of our counselors has about 300 kids on their roster. There are zero scheduled meetings for post HS plans, or course selection. Students can request meetings but they have to be scheduled. I don’t know that there would be an opportunity for a parent meeting but as the GC really doesn’t know my child, I don’t see the point. There is a “career and college” counselor that appears to update information on the website and handle the Presidents Volunteer service awards but other than that, doesn’t’ seem to really do anything until school starts senior year. Kids are supposed to meet with their counselor in August/Sept (but it sounds child driven) and then state LOR’s should be requested in October. So…as you might imagine, any and all preparation, research and planning is being done/driven by us and S. Especially since school doesn’t actually start until September…
Which, in all fairness, is exactly how it was when I was in HS, so some things haven’t changed a bit.
I am amused though, S17 got a robo letter from the district today telling him which AP classes he should consider taking based on his PSAT scores.
One he has already taken, one he is currently taking and one that is on his schedule for next year. Gotta love the personalized attention…
There was a financial aid seminar in January that I missed, but will hit next year and probably a few others but kind of annoying that the only info is on an after hours, come if you can, kind of basis which just doesn’t’ always work schedule wise.
Thanks @caroldanvers and @nw2this She feels pretty confident that she probably scored at least a 1400, but we both want her to be finished with the SAT. We were just wondering if she had much wiggle room. It sounds like she does. We will both be thankful when she finds out in May. Hopefully at least 1thing will be checked off the to do list.
@jedwards70 Mom of a D16 and S18 here. We just toured UTD in February with S18 in mind. I was very impressed with the research opportunities and scholarships for high stats kids, NMF is a full ride. The dorms are great and the campus is very new. If your kid is into STEM or Business or Pre-Med you should really take a good look at UTD if you have a kid that lives for football, marching band or orchestra UTD would not be the a good fit. I’ll be posting a more detailed trip report on the UTD forum Sunday evening (really should have done so earlier) .
S18 took the SAT today. He said the math without calculator part was the most difficult and he ran out of time on the last problem and had to guess, but he thought the SAT was similar to the practice tests.
My D also thought the test was pretty much the same as free practice tests - not too bad. She found the essay really hard and says she will be happy to get 3, but she hadn’t practiced it at all.
Does anyone have any experience with some of the personality-type tests/profile surveys that are out there? D feels she would like to (eventually) go into medical research (non-MD track), after first thinking it would be engineering (specifically BioMed Eng). So, I’m just wondering if she has any clue. We have Naviance, which has a couple tests that she took. Just looking for some other ideas outside of Naviance. She’s not like a couple of your kids that have a strong idea of exactly what they want. I’m just afraid she hasn’t thought about it enough, and maybe we should take another look at her supposed interest…kind of a second opinion, to help us look for a good UG major. I’ll also be asking her GC about this Monday.
ETA: I just checked, and she is a Myers-Briggs ISTJ, fwiw.
^^I don’t put a lot of stock in the personality tests that tell you what type of career you should pursue-within every discipline there are different aspects that can appeal to different temperament types.
That said, the kids are hugely into the myers briggs tests-I have an ENTJ, an ENFP, I am an XNFJ (neither introverted nor extroverted), and H is an INTJ. Never a dull moment in our house (as I commented on the Myers Briggs thread somewhere on here).
Older kid definitely knows that she wants to do CS and has been coding for years, but younger D has no idea.
I counsel her to focus on what she’s good at, and continue becoming better at it, and a career should at some point suggest itself.
I’m not a fan of the whole “follow your passion” thing. I’m either passionate or indifferent to just about everything, so if I “chased my passion” I’d never get anywhere.
H counsels the girls-“choose anything you want, but make sure you learn how to be really good at it.”
Sorry to hear that @carachel2. We have 6 counselors for 1800 kids, and I think some families make more use of their services, outside of just college planning, than others. Our kids have had their issues with teachers and academics, etc. so we established a relationship with our CG early on. We also have 2 kids right in a row, now a Jr and a Sr, so its been easy to touch base on both students in a single communication. However, most of the CG meetings are set up by our kids, on their own. My husband and/or I have met with our CG about 1x/year, with one of my kids present too, of course. But most of my communication has been via email, and to a lesser extent, by telephone. She is very responsive and “gets” and likes my kids. We feel very fortunate!
@MotherOfDragons I am cracking up at your comment and love your H’s counsel. I have mixed feelings on the passion aspect. Part of me supports the follow your passion argument…as I do think if you have one, well that’s a gift itself. I can honestly say I never had a “passion” for anything much like yourself but to your point, did what I enjoyed well enough and a career came about just fine. I am not sure though that today’s world allows for that as much as I would like. I have a recent graduate with a pricey LAC degree that followed his passion and seems quite content working some random jobs, living at his mom’s (stepson) and following his passion in a non paying way. Will the career find him? Maybe. Is he good at it? Yes, doesn’t mean it pays anything.
But do they need to know now? No. I don’t think so. I think the kids that really do (and stick to it) are in the minority. I do think, if they don’t (and even if they do but you suspect it could change) then they need to choose a school that gives them the option, preferably without penalty, to change their mind.
@2muchquan Does she really need to know now? There are plenty of schools that offer all of the options you list and don’t require you to declare at application. Why does it need to be constrained? These kids are still figuring out who they are and if they constrain themselves too much, too early on, it’s more difficult (and potentially expensive) to change mid stream once in college. My S17 thinks he knows what he wants, or has an idea. Doesn’t really mean he actually has a clue (bless his heart). We will look at schools based on what he thinks he wants but I’ve a strong preference (and he knows it) for something that gives him the opportunity to change his mind without too much (if any) penalty.
@eandesmom My question was more of wanting to help her expand her search, not restrict it. Maybe we could find some other things she may be interested in based on her personality type, and how she is wired. Then, find schools that offer these options.
I checked out what ISTJ means and, boy, that’s got her pegged pretty well. One of the suggestions for those types is the military. That’s not a bad way to pay for school!
@2muchquan
So I was scrolling down and saw your first post about your D being an ISTJ which is my husband’s type and then I saw your second comment and now I definitely have to reply…
ISTJ husband graduated in mechanical engineering with ROTC scholarship and went into Army Signal Corps! So I think you may be on to something. In the Army he eventually got into computer network architecture and has been in that field ever since (but on the civilian side for a long time now).
I’m glad people are discussing LoR’s and GC’s because it segues beautifully into the question I was coming here to ask—
D has her two teachers picked. Many colleges want a LoR from a counselor or principal as well and I’m wondering if there’s some wiggle room. Apparently like many kids here, D does not know her GC well. I met her for the first time at D’s IEP meeting (for special ed in case that term is different elsewhere). She was nice but didn’t seem to have any particular insight regarding D’s college search. I’m not sure the principal would even know D’s name. However, her special ed case manager has also been her advisor (do most places have “advisory” class? If not I can I can explain further) since D’s freshman year. She knows D better and has been involved more in D’s education than any other staff at the school. I think she could write the most meaningful LoR.
Soooooo would most schools accept a LoR from a case manager/advisor in lieu of a GC/principal? If so, which “job title” would fit better?
The guidance counselor report includes a lot of school related information…in addition to the write up about the student. I would stick with the guidance counselor…however…I would also be sure to give the counselor a detailed brag sheet/resume to assist him or her in crafting the rec. It also wouldn’t hurt to meet with the counselor to talk about your child’s goals and to discuss the importance of the rec. I have done this with all of my college bound kids, and it resulted in very detailed, less generic recs.
My kids attend a large public school. Each counselor has about 400 kids.
Wonder what you all think – S17 is very interested in majoring in EE and CS in college. He is starting to plan classes for senior year and has 2 decisions to make -
One decision is - what English class – he took AP Lang his year and is doing well but I think AP Lit would not be very enjoyable & would be a ton of work. He dislikes creative writing and prefers nonfiction over most fiction. He must take 4 years of English so perhaps he could take “College Composition” or another course. Do you think it 'matters" not to take “AP Lit” considering his intended major and that he took AP Lang?
The second decision is whether to take a 5th year of Chinese – OR take engineering - Robotics most likely. He was on the FTC robotics team this year and really enjoyed it - next year it will also be offered as a class which would be very helpful for the competitions. Re Chinese he has done very well but the 12th grade teacher is very harsh (he had her already) so would be painful.
In senior year he’ll take AP Physics C, Original Science Research (4th year), AP Calc BC, AP Econ, orchestra, and PE, He has taken Physics 1, Chemistry (can’t fit in AP Chem bc need an extra period for labs), Biology & Earth Science. He self studied AP Comp Sci and did extremely well on the exam - he could not fit the course at school into his schedule. He might self study for AP Stats. (He is taking AP US Hist now - 4 yrs of social studies are required too.)
Appreciate your thoughts & suggestions! I know GCs have to complete Common App and speak to rigor of course load so he will talk to her about this too.
I agree you need the GC letter. I have to write one for my kids. The GC letter indicates what types of courses are offered and completed (this is where the “rigor” of the student’s course load is addressed. It also gives a breakdown of the community, SES of community, etc. (I might be confused about this last sentence. I’m can’t remember if the school,profile and the GC letter are combined or separate.) If a student has something serious that needs to be addressed, it is also in the GC letter. For example, a serious illness would be addressed by the GC letter.
Im trying to remember bc it has been 3 yrs, but I am prett sure that the GC letter has a different upload spot than LOR.
@CA1543 Assuming your ds does well on the AP Lang exam, I see no reason for him to take AP Lit next year. It’s nice that he has other English choices for senior year!