Hope everyone is having a wonderful Thanksgiving.
I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday yesterday. I am grateful for all the advice I have received by reading the many helpful posts.
Wonderful holiday until my brother’s dog tried to take my husband’s hand off! Ugh! We have a weekend of ice, elevation, painkillers, and antibiotics. Tis’ the season!
Anyone shopping today? We don’t go out for deals but enjoy the holiday spirit and head out late in the day.
@BlueAFMom this is the first year in a while that I have not gone out shopping this am. I have totally made up for it online…I need to walk away from the computer:)
Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving holiday!
D is busy shopping this morning with friends!
Hosted 13 for Thanksgiving so no time for CC for the last couple of days. We had a great day!
We got surprised with my D’s in-school SAT score. She has been super busy this Fall and since her SAT score was “good enough” she did not study. She actually used the night before to catch up on other assignments since she had a night off from homework.
Well, she equaled her highest EBRW score and brought up Math score by 40 points. This is after a similar 40 point Math score jump in June. She has gone from having a very lopsided score to now appearing much more balanced.
The bad news is the score came too late for her two safeties where she is looking for stats basis merit aid. The new score did show up on the portal of her top choice school the same CB released it to students. Hoping the new score will help with Honors programs.
@CaucAsianDad Thankful for pleasant surprises!
@STEM2017
Would have been more thankful for that score in June and a Provost Scholarship this Fall !
We are thankful that it looks my D will end up where she needs to be.
Is anyone else applying to IU-B, and has completed the SSA? D has been dragging her feet since our trip there, and not being considered for Wells. She’s got the Dean’s scholarship already, so I am ‘encouraging’ her to finish the deal and get the SSA in. All she has left is inviting recommenders. Wondering what others used for the one asking for: “The second letter should be from someone who can discuss your leadership activities, community service, or personal accomplishments.” There aren’t many who know ALL of this, but just parts and pieces. It say’s ‘OR’ so do you think it really means ‘or’? Or should we use her GC for this, who knows her very well on a personal level, but not deeply in any of these areas? I’m thinking maybe just use her leader from her annual Kentucky mission trip, which would only cover the ‘community service’ area. Probably over-thinking since the school is not high on her list anyway :D. Too much turkey. ~:>
I feel bad with all the LOR requests she’s made to recommenders. So many ‘outside’ of the CA that I’m sure it’s a bit of a pain.
@showmetheMAC D completed the SSA. Still waiting for second LOR to be uploaded. She asked the advisor of her environmental club.
@itsgettingreal17 I think IU-B wins for most LORs requested, between CA, SSA, and competitive scholarship apps. Thanks for the quick response!
QOTD: Dr. Strange in 3D or standard format?
Just got a text from dd. She got 3rd place for her speech. 
Thanks for the info, @curiositycat333 ! Btw, I know your son is applying to some UCs. So is my D. How is he doing as deadline approaches? I have to say, she found the UC application to be pretty user friendly, and answering the four “personal insight” questions much easier than the one common app essay.
Congratulations @Mom2aphysicsgeek! I am guessing that’s great! 
How is she liking things in a foreign country all by her lonesome?? My kid would never do that.
Wow – congratulations to your DD @Mom2aphysicsgee - fabulous news - feel proud!
@Mom2aphysicsgeek - Congrats to D on her competition, and congrats to all on their continued acceptances…our boat will continue drifting along until Dec. 15th and beyond.
D has gotten out her UC apps (in contrast to @Aida’s experience, D found 350 words too limiting, although, taken together, the four essays present a reasonably clear picture of who D17 is and what she’s about).
We’ve got a few more apps to get in for Dec. 1st merit consideration, and then on to the next set of deadlines…
Thanks, everyone. @showmetheMAC She has loved it. She isn’t really all alone, though. She has her teammates and their chaperone. (No one she knew before this, but there is someone helping her get around vs being completely alone.) She said she loves us and misses us, but the trip has been too short b/c it has been so much fun. She flies out tonight at 1 am our time and gets home tomorrow night at 730.
3 people on her team won single awards, each in different categories. I am super proud of her, especially when getting up and giving a speech was way, way, way out of her comfort zone!
@showmetheMAC I think you should consider going with the kentucky mission trip leader rec because the GC would have already submitted a rec with the initial application so it’s always better to hear from multiple people saying wonderful things about you than a repeating a rec. GC probably doesn’t have much new to add that hasn’t already been said in the inital rec. Even though the Kentucky mission trip covers the ‘community service’ aspect, the leader could touch upon ways that D showed leadership during the trip which would make for an even stronger recommendation. Encourage D to think of things she did that demonstrated leadership or you may remember some stories she shared with you that were demonstration of leadership and she can drop the leader a note and include some of the examples she hopes he/she would include in the rec.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek Congrats!! That’s wonderful.
@LoveTheBard Here with you waiting for mid-December for some decisions. I’m becoming impatient. One last app to be submitted this weekend and then I think we will wait two weeks before submitting the next set of apps.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek When it comes to my D, that would still be considered ‘alone’ :D. Good for your D.
@paveyourpath All good ideas. Thanks!